The Impossible Time Stream
by TARDIS-set-adrift
Summary: Part three of The Broken Girl series. Yet another exciting adventure with the Doctor, Amy, Rory, River, and of course, Aderyn. But there's something very wrong with Aderyn. Why is she so determined to get the Doctor to investigate Space 1969? Who's diaries did she have to collect? Who's future is she trying to change? And who is she trying to remember? COMPLETE.
1. I Think It's An Invitation

**Part three of The Broken Girl series.**

 **Yet another exciting adventure with the Doctor, Amy, Rory, River, and of course, Aderyn. But there's something very wrong with Aderyn. Why is she so determined to get the Doctor to investigate Space 1969? Who's diaries did she have to collect? Who's future is she trying to change? And who is she trying to remember?**

 **I DO NOT own Doctor Who.**

* * *

Amy paced in the living room, book in hand. She smiled as she read,

"At the personal intervention of the King, the unnamed doctor was incarcerated without trial in the Tower Of London."

"Ok, but it's not necessarily him." Rory said. He unpacked the shopping as Amy talked.

"Two nights later a magical sphere some 20 feet across was seen floating away from the tower, bearing the mysterious doctor aloft." Amy slammed the book shut triumphantly.

"Ok," Rory said "That's him."

"It's like he's being deliberately ridiculous, trying to attract our attention." Amy said.

Rory stopped what he was doing, looking at Amy curiously "So what? He's trying to wave at us from history books?"

The doorbell rang and Amy went to answer it. "It's the sort of thing he would do." she called from the hall.

She riffled through the mail the post man had given her.

"But why?" Rory said as she walked back into the kitchen.

"He said he'd be in touch," Amy said. She threw some letters onto the kitchen counter "he's up to something. I know it." she held up a letter so Rory could see.

"What's that?"

She tore it open. "A date, a time, a map reference. I think it's an invitation."

"From who?" Rory said, moving beside her to look at it.

"It's not signed, but look again at the envelope. It's TARDIS blue."  
_

STORMCAGE FACILITY, 52ND CENTURY

River song was sat at the small desk in her cell when a letter was thrown onto her bed. She looked round, uninterested. She seldom got any decent letters these days. She threw herself from the chair when she saw the TARDIS blue envelope on her pillow. She tore open the envelope. A date, a time, a map reference. She started to pack.


	2. This Is Your Chance To Redeem Yourself

STORMCAGE FACILITY, 51ST CENTURY

She sat at the end of the small bed, staring at the wall. She closed her eyes and listened to the noises around her. She could hear an argument between a guard and another inmate further down the corridor. There was always arguments between those two. She heard footsteps coming closer to her. She opened her eyes. The eye that wasn't covered by an eye patch, narrowed as a guard stopped outside her cell and threw a letter on the bed.

"You have mail." he said. She looked at the blue envelope. She saw the name written on it.

"Wait," she called, running to the bars of the cell "That's not for me."

The guard stopped and turned to face her "But that is your name on the envelope." he said.

"No one here knows me by that name. So how do you know it's for me?" she said.

"Because that's your name." the guard replied. He turned to leave. She reached through the bars, grabbing the guard by the front of his jacket. She pulled him close.

"How do you know my name?" she said "Who are you?" She stared closely at him. Something wasn't right with his eyes. She peered as closely as she could at him.

She saw a man in the guard's pupil. "Teselecta, a robot full of tiny people. The law enforcement in all of time," she said quietly. She let him go. "What are you doing here?"

The guard straightened his jacket "I'm doing you a favour. This is your chance to redeem yourself."

"Why would you do that?" she asked "You should be giving me Hell not helping me," she walked back over to the bed, picking up the envelope. "You know what this is about. This isn't just about me is it?"

"No, there is more to this then just you." the guard said.

She tore open the envelope. A date, a time, a map reference. Her hand shook "I can't go," she said "I know what this means. I can't see that again."

"You must go. You must go to him."

"How am I even meant to get there? This isn't just a different place, it's a different time, my own time stream. And I don't know whether you've noticed," she thumped her fist against the bars "but I'm not exactly in a position to just walk out of here."

The guard put his hand through the bars "You'll need this," She looked at the hand being outstretched towards her and took what was being offered. Her vortex manipulator. "You will not meet yourself, I have taken care of that. Move quickly, pack everything you need. You have ten minutes until I raise the alarm. You know what you have to do. Fly away Little Bird." The Teselecta guard walked away.

She put the invitation back into the envelope and looked down at the name and address on it. No one called her that anymore, no one had called her that for years. So few people knew that was her name. She put the envelope into her back pocket and began to pack. She dug around under the small metal bed, pulling out a bag. Inside the bag were three books. She checked they were still there then began to throw things in the bag on top of them. She had somehow managed to hide a plethora of weaponry around her cell. They never checked her cell for weapons. As long as she didn't have the manipulator they didn't care. But one day they will learn they should never trust a girl with pockets.


	3. It's The Ponds!

Amy and Rory stepped off the bus. They had no idea where they were. This could be anywhere. Why did he want them here?

"Is this it?" Amy asked.

"Nowhere, middle of? Sounds right." Rory replied. As the bus they had disembarked pulled away, they didn't notice the red station wagon that was parked on the opposite side of the road. And they certainly didn't notice the Doctor, stretched across the hood, leaning casually against the windscreen.

"Howdy!" he said.

Amy and Rory spun around.

"Doctor!" Amy said.

"It's the Ponds." the Doctor said excitedly. Amy ran over to him, hugging him.

"You've been busy." she said with a smile.

"Did you see me?" the Doctor said, beaming with pride.

"Couldn't miss you." Amy said.

"Stalker." the Doctor joked.

"Flirt." Amy responded.

"Husband!" Rory said loudly.

"Rory the Roman, come here." before Rory could move, the Doctor hugged him.

"Nice hat." he said.

"I wear a Stetson now, Stetsons are cool." the Doctor said, pointlessly adjusting the hat.

A shot made them all jump and the Doctor crouched slightly as the Stetson was blown off of his head. They looked round. Stood in the middle of the road was River Song.

She blew across the muzzle of the gun before putting it back in its holster "Stetsons aren't cool." she said.  
_

The Doctor drove them to a diner. It was small and quiet but it meant they could talk. As Amy bought drinks, River and the Doctor talked continuously, comparing notes.

"Doctor, since when have you had a diary?" Amy asked, sliding in the seat next to River.

"Well I thought it would be a good idea. Seeing I only ever seem to bump into River when I'm with Addy, she's technically part of my future as well." He said, flipping through the pages.

"Where is Oz? You've invited us here, surely you invited her as well." River said.

"Of course I did," the Doctor said indignantly "I'm sure she'll be along at some point. I told her the plan so she'll know where to find us."

Amy stared at him "You actually told her the plan for once?"

"Well," the Doctor shrugged "Part of it."

"So what is the plan? Why are we here?" Rory asked.

The Doctor closed his diary "I've been running. Faster than I've ever run, and I've been running my whole life. Now it's time for me to stop. And tonight I'm going to need you all with me," he said "We're going for a picnic. And then a trip. Somewhere different, somewhere brand-new."

"Where?" River asked.

"Space 1969."


	4. Three, Four, Five

The Doctor lounged across the picnic blanket, easily hiding his disappointment that Aderyn wasn't there. Instead he focused on Amy, Rory and River, all laughing and joking. They truly had no idea what lay in store for them or how sorry he was that they would be here to witness it. But when you're about to go, it's nice to remind yourself of what, of who you're leaving behind.

The Doctor raised a glass of wine in toast, pushing the dark thoughts to the back of his mind.

"Salut." he said.

"Since when have you drunk wine?" Amy asked.

"I'm 1103, I must have drunk it at some point," he took a sip from the glass, quickly spitting it out "Wine is horrid. I thought it would taste more like the gums." he considered the dark red liquid for a second before putting the glass down. He looked out across the lake they were next to. There was no denying it was beautiful. The water was clear and still.

"Wait, 1103?" Amy frowned at him "You were 908 last time I saw you."

"And you've put on a couple of pounds," The Doctor said "I wasn't going to mention it."

He turned his attention back to the lake again.

Amy looked across the dunes, silently trying to figure out where Aderyn could be. It was a shame she was missing this. Everyone was so happy and the lake was beautiful. She saw a figure silhouetted against the sun. She raised her hand to shield her eyes, but she couldn't make out who it was."Amy?"

Amy turned "What were you looking at?" Rory said.

She shook her head "I wasn't looking at anything."

"You were." Rory said, looking at the dunes. But there was nothing there.

The Doctor looked at the sky. Just visible in the cloudless sky was the moon. "Ah! The moon, look at it! Of course, you lot did more than look, didn't you? Big silvery thing in the sky, you couldn't resist it. Quite right." the Doctor said, so quietly they weren't sure if he was talking to himself or them.

"The moon landing was in '69. Is that where we're going?" Rory asked.

"Oh a lot more happened in '69 then anyone remembers," the Doctor sat up "Human beings. I thought I'd never get done saving you."

They heard the sound of a vehicle behind them. The Doctor looked around then stood. As a man stepped out of the pick up truck that had pulled up, the Doctor waved. The man waved back. Rory, River and Amy stood quickly. Amy watched the man in the pick up, but Rory and River stared, confused and horrified at the lake. When Amy and the Doctor turned, they saw an astronaut emerging from the lake. An Apollo astronaut, complete with space suit, in the lake. It made little sense. But the Doctor knew, knew what was coming.

"That's an astronaut. That's an Apollo astronaut in the lake." Rory stammered.

"Yes I can see that," the Doctor said. He started to walk towards the astronaut, stopping briefly to turn back to them ""You all need to stay back. Whatever happens now, you do not interfere. Clear?" they nodded mutely. They watched the Doctor walk up to the astronaut. They watched silently as the Doctor spoke to the astronaut. He bowed his head as the astronaut raised it's arm. It fired a shot at the Doctor and he staggered backwards. Amy ran towards the Doctor, but River soon caught up with her, lifting her off the floor to stop her running forwards. Amy kicked out, desperate to get to the Doctor. "Let me go." she shouted.

"Amy, no. The Doctor said stay back!" River said, struggling to keep hold of Amy. The astronaut fired again and the Doctor fell to his knees. Amy doubled her efforts to escape River's grasp. River lowered her so her feet were on the floor and she could no longer kick, but she didn't relinquish her grip. "Amy, you've got to stay back." Rory said. He knew how she was feeling. He wanted to run, run to the Doctor and save him. But the Doctor had said to stay back. And the Doctor knew what he was doing, right?

The Doctor struggled to his feet, regeneration energy began to waft from his hands. He looked over at his friends, gathered, watching as he died. He saw River holding Amy back. He knew this was the end, the last time he would see her. His regeneration cycle began. But it was stopped abruptly when the astronaut fired again. He fell to the ground.

River let Amy go and quickly over took her as they ran to the Doctor. River had her gun in hand before they even reached him. She fired until she had no ammo left. But not one shot had any affect on the astronaut retreating into the lake. Amy threw herself to her knees next to the Doctor. River knelt next to her. The Doctor didn't move. River knew, knew with a certainty you could bend steel around, that the Doctor was dead.

"Amy, I'm sorry, he's dead." River said quietly.

"He can't be dead," Amy sobbed "This is impossible."

River stood and pulled Amy to her feet, away from the Doctor's body. "Whatever that was, it killed him in the middle of his regeneration cycle. His body was already dead. He didn't make it to the next one."

"Maybe he's a clone or a duplicate or something." Amy said, crying into River's arms.

None of them noticed the man from the pick up walk down to them. He stood, a short distance from them, letting them grieve. After a few minutes he took a step forward, needing to get on with his own unpleasant task.

"I believe I can save you some time," he said. His strong American accent sounding odd next to their British accents "That most certainly is the Doctor, and he is most certainly dead. He said you'd need this." he picked up a gas can that he'd been stood in front of. He placed it on the floor next to the dead Doctor's feet.

"Gasoline?" Rory said.

"A Time Lord's body is a miracle. Even a dead one. There are whole empires out there who'd rip this world apart for just one cell," River said. She knew exactly what needed to be done. And it wouldn't be easy "We can't leave him here. Or anywhere."

"What do we do?" Amy said quietly.

"We're his friends. We do what the Doctor's friends always do," River said, picking up the gas can "As we're told."

Rory looked across the lake "There's a boat," he said "If we have to do this, we do it with style. We do it properly."  
_

They waited until night fall. They would do this with style. They watched as the Doctor and the boat burned as it floated gently across the lake. Amy was torn between wanting comfort and wanting to run away and pretend this hadn't happened. She settled for allowing Rory to put a comforting arm around her. She looked at River from the corner of her eye. It was a strange sight to see River without Aderyn next to her. But deep down she was glad Aderyn hadn't been here to see this. Amy removed Rory's arm from her shoulder, holding his hand so she could stake a step closer to River. She reached out and took River's hand. Amy could feel River's reluctance at the contact, but sometimes, just sometimes, human contact is what is needed. River held on to Amy's hand, more for Amy's benefit then her own. She wasn't looking forward to telling Aderyn about this. River was glad Aderyn hadn't been here to see this. She knew that there was no way they'd have been able to hold Aderyn back as well as Amy.

River let go of Amy's hand, turning back to the man.

"Who are you?" she demanded "Why did you come here?"

The man had stood back, respectfully allowing them to mourn. He now stepped forward "Same reason as you," he said, taking a TARDIS blue envelope from his pocket and showing it to River.

Rory and Amy turned to face them. They walked up to River, keeping behind her. "Though I was under the impression there would be another person with you."

"Yeah we don't know why she's not here. But thank god she isn't." Amy said.

"Dr Song... Amy... Rory. I'm Canton Everett Delaware III. I won't be seeing you again. But...you'll be seeing me." he tipped his hat at them, picked up the gas can and walked back to the truck.

"Five." River said.

"What?" Amy said, frowning at her.

"Five," she said again, taking her own invitation out of her pocket "The envelopes were numbered. I got four, Mr Delaware got five." Rory took his and Amy's envelope out of his pocket and looked at it. It was numbered three.


	5. What Trouble Have You Got For Me?

They returned to the diner in silence, none of them wanting to believe what had happened next to the lake. It wasn't until they entered the diner that the silence was broken.

"So you got three, I got four and Mr Delaware got five." River mused.

"So what?" Amy said.

"So who got two and one?" River said.

"The Doctor said Aderyn had been invited as well. So what number did she get? One or two?" Rory said.

Amy leant against a table "Shut up," she said. They didn't listen.

"Who else would he have invited other then us and Aderyn? He planned this to the tiniest detail, but who else was invited?" Rory said.

"He was up to something." River said.

"Will you shut up? It doesn't matter," Amy snapped "He's dead so it doesn't matter."

"It mattered to him." River said quietly.

"So it matters to us," Rory said. Without warning Rory ran to one of the tables, picking up an envelope from its surface "This is number one." he said, showing the envelope to River and Amy. River walked over to him.

"Ok, The Doctor knew he was going to his death, so he sent out messages. When you know it's the end, who do you call?" River said.

"People you trust, your friends." Amy said.

"But who did the Doctor trust the most?" Rory asked.

At that moment the back door of the diner opened and the Doctor strolled in. He had a straw in his hand and he smiled when he saw them.

"Even by your standards this is cold." River growled at him.

The Doctor frowned "Or 'Hello' as people used to say." he said.

Amy stared in disbelief at the Doctor, still clearly alive, stood before her "You're ok? How are you ok?"

"Of course I'm ok," his voice, laced with concern as he pulled her into a hug "I'm always ok. I'm the king of ok," he let her go and looked into her eyes "Oh that's a rubbish title, forget that title."

He spotted Rory and River stood behind Amy, both with varying looks of confusion and despair.

"Rory the Roman. Now there's a good title." he hugged Rory briefly before turning his attention to River. " And Dr River Song, what trouble have you got for me this time?"

The slap to his face that River Song delivered hurt more than he could have anticipated. He couldn't deny she had a strong hand. But the hurt quickly turned to annoyance at the fact he had no idea what he was meant to have done. He only had one conclusion.

"I'm assuming that's for something I haven't done yet?"

"Yes it is." River glared at him, one of the few looks for pure anger she very rarely gave him.

"Good, looking forward to it." he said, with only a hint of sarcasm.

"I don't understand. How can you be here?" Rory said, poking him in the chest to confirm that he really was there.

"I was invited," the Doctor grumbled, pushing Rory's hand away as he moved to poke him again. "Date, map reference. Same as you lot, I assume, otherwise its a hell of a coincidence."

"River, what's going on?" Amy said, she moved so she was stood slightly behind River and felt like a child cowering behind an adult.

"Amy, ask him what age he is." River said quietly, quickly catching on to the only explanation.

"That's a bit personal."

"Just tell her." River snapped.

"909."

"Yeah but you said.." Amy frowned. "I don't understand."

"Yeah you do." Rory said.

"I don't," snapped the Doctor. He hated not knowing what was happening. He always knew what was happening. "What are we all doing here?"

Before anyone could respond the diner door was flung open and in walked one of the strangest figures they had seen.

It was a woman dressed in mostly black. Her long black coat had the hood up and her large black boots thumped loudly against the floor as she walked towards them. Her long hair fell over her shoulders and looked unkempt. The coat sleeves were pushed up to her elbows, the vortex manipulator she wore on her wrist clearly visible. A small black eye patch was fitted closely over one eye.

"Aderyn?" the Doctor said uncertainly.

Amy, River and Rory stared at the newcomer in disbelief. Although they could now clearly see that it was indeed Aderyn, she looked like a completely different person. Her cheeks were hollow and the green eye that was visible had lost the sparkle they were used to seeing. River took in the woman stood before them. She looked prepared for combat. She wore a large bag but there was a gun holstered at each hip and a smaller thin holster at her thigh that held what looked like a sonic screw driver. Underneath the bag, partially visible was a sword.

"I'm afraid so."

"What the hell happened to you?" Amy said.

"I don't believe that's any of your business." Aderyn surveyed Amy with disgust.

The Doctor pulled open the door leading to where the TARDIS was parked and nodded towards it. Aderyn walked towards it, slamming the TARDIS door behind her. The TARDIS whined in protest.

"I have no idea what's going on." River looked from Amy, to Rory to the Doctor, hoping for answers.

Without a word the four of them moved together into the TARDIS.


	6. Is Everybody Cross With Me?

"So what are we doing here?" The Doctor asked, running up to the TARDIS console. Amy, Rory and River were close behind him. As they gathered round the console, they threw furtive glances at Aderyn, who was sat away from them all.

"we've been recruited. Something to do with space 1969, and a man called Canton Everett Delaware III." River said. She moved around the console so she could keep both the Doctor and Aderyn in sight.

"Recruited by who?"

"Someone who trusts you more than anybody else in the universe."

"And who is that?"

River smiled sadly at him "spoilers."

The Doctor began walking around the console, flicking switches and pulling levers, talking in that over confident way he had.

"1969, that's an easy one. Funny how some years are easy. Now, 1482, full of glitches. Now then, Canton Everett Delaware III, that was his name, yeah?"

Amy sighed sadly and walked away. There was something very wrong and she couldn't put her finger on it. Of course being invited to watch the Doctor die had been troubling, deeply troubling, but the odd appearance of Aderyn only troubled her more. Every now and then Aderyn would give them odd looks as if she didn't know them and was sizing them up.

She found her way under the console and sat quietly, closing her eyes and listening to the Doctor above her walk around and talk continuously.

"How many of those can there be? well, I suppose, three."

As the Doctor leapt around the console he noticed Amy walk away. He also couldn't help but spot River soon follow her.

"Rory, is everybody cross with me for some reason?"

Rory clapped him on the shoulder "I'll find out."

The Doctor watched him walk away, before turning his concerned attention towards Aderyn. He watched her for a few minutes before resuming his bizarre dance around the console. He didn't notice Aderyn walking over to Amy and River.  
_

"Explain it again." Amy said, her voice shaking.

"The Doctor we saw on the beach was a future version, 200 years older than the one up there." River explained.

"But all that'll still happen? He'll still die?"

"We're all going to do that at some point." Aderyn said, making them all jump. Rory glared at her, distrustfully. "We're not all going to arrange our own wake and invite ourselves."

Amy stood up "We have to tell him" She said defiantly.

"We've told him all we can. We can't even tell him that we've seen his future self." River put out a hand to stop Amy moving towards the stairs.

"He'd want to know."

"Would he? would anyone? He's interacted with his own past. It could rip a hole in the universe."

Amy rounded on Aderyn "he's done it before."

Rory put a comforting hand on her shoulder "In fairness the universe did blow up."

Realising she was getting nowhere, Amy, once again, rounded on Aderyn "What do you want anyway?"

"Hey don't snap at me just because your precious Doctor does something as natural as dying for the first time." She glared at Amy.

"Why weren't you there?" Amy said "You were meant to be there."

"Because I knew what was going to happen. I've already watched it once before and I refused to do it again," Aderyn snapped. She sighed, it wasn't their fault so she shouldn't be angry with them. "Look, I'm just trying to figure out what I'm doing here. I'm not meant to be here, but here I am all the same. I need to know what I have to do." she looked between the three of them

"You were invited, weren't you? Like the rest of us." Rory said.

"Yes and no. It's very complicated and I'm not actually allowed to tell you. But you all know him, I don't know how you know him, or how well you know him, but I need to change the future. I had no instructions other then that...well nothing I can tell you anyway. I'm going to need help."

"You have no idea who we are do you?" River said.

Aderyn frowned "Am I meant to?"


	7. Collect The Diaries, Change The Future

The Doctor took advantage of no one being around him. Knowing something wasn't quite right, he used the TARDIS to scan Aderyn. The scan showed her to be several years older than the last time he had seen her, and given he'd returned to her time zone just a few weeks after he had last seen her, he knew something was very wrong. He stared in horror as Aderyn's records flashed across the screen. This was impressive stuff he was doing. And there was no one there to witness it.  
_

"I'm being extremely clever up here, and there's no-one to stand around, looking impressed. What's the point in having you all?" Amy and Rory jumped. They looked up to see the Doctor, led on his stomach, his head hanging over the edge of the console platform.

"We'll be there in a minute." River said. They walked slowly up the stairs to the console, River staying behind Aderyn, watching her. Something was very wrong. She had noticed the vortex manipulator on Aderyn's wrist and she recognised it. It was her own manipulator, or at least a version of it. She touched the manipulator she wore on her own wrist. The one Aderyn had bore the exact same scuffs and scratches that River's had. But something was very wrong with this situation. Aderyn had known that the Doctor was going to die at the lake, she said so herself. Yet she didn't know River or Amy and Rory. River had witnessed how close Aderyn and Amy had been, she'd watched from the shadows at Amy and Rory's wedding. She'd watched as Aderyn and Amy had danced and Amy had constantly topped up Aderyn's drinks. She remembered how Aderyn had convinced Amy to walk through the forest of Angels with her eyes closed. Amy had brought Aderyn back after the second big bang just because she had remembered her and had wanted Aderyn at her wedding.

As usual the Doctor flourished with an audience. He moved quickly around the console.

"Time isn't a straight line, it's all bumpy-wumpy. There's loads of boring stuff, like Sundays and Tuesdays and Thursday afternoons. But now and then there are Saturdays, big temporal tipping points when anything's possible. The TARDIS can't resist them, she loves a party, so I give her 1969 and NASA, cos that's space in the '60s, and Canton Everett Delaware III, and this is where she's pointing." He indicated the date readout on the TARDIS scanner.

"Washington DC, April 8th, 1969. So why haven't we landed?" Amy leant against the console casually, desperate to make it seem like everything was normal.

"Because that's not where we're going. You two," he waved a hand in Rory and Amy's direction "are going home. Off you pop and make babies. Dr Song, back to prison and I am going to try and figure out what to do with our dear Aderyn."

"Oswin."

"Pardon?" The Doctor turned to face Aderyn.

"Oswin. It's Oswin now. I haven't gone by Aderyn for a while."

"Ok then," the Doctor sighed "I'm going to figure out what to do with our dear Oswin."

He flopped into a chair and rubbed his forehead, fully aware of River, Rory and Amy approaching him.

"What?" he looked up at them "A mysterious summons? You think I'm just going to go? Who sent those messages? I know you know, I can see it in your faces. Don't play games with me. Don't ever, ever think you're capable of that."

"You're just going to have to trust us this time." River took a step forward to approach him but stopped when he stood suddenly.

"Trust you? Trust the woman from Stormcage? The woman who killed a man but won't say who. Trust you? Seriously?"

"Then trust me."

He moved towards Amy. She took a defensive step backwards. "OK."

She took a deep breath "You have to do this and you can't ask why."

"Are you being threatened? Is someone making you say this?"

"No."

"Liar."

Amy squared up to the Doctor "I am not lying."

"Yes you are." He walked away from Amy and sat down once again.

"Oswin, a little help here." River said. This comment was met with an outburst of laughter from both the Doctor and Oswin.

"I'm going to save you a lot of time and energy and say that appealing to me on this one is not going to work." Oswin said.

"Why not?" River asked.

The Doctor laughed again "Yes trust the manic depressive who's been dragged back here from the future? Trust the woman who is the reason the Stormcage was built? Trust the woman who's running from the Stormcage?"

Oswin leant against the console facing the Doctor, her arms crossed, an impressed smile brightening her eyes. "Ah, you've done your research," she said "But you're not completely correct. I wasn't dragged back, I came willingly. I was meant to be here earlier," She saw River throw her a warning look "But that's the problem with manipulator travel, it's not always accurate. "

"Why did you come here?" the Doctor said. Oswin walked over to where she had put her bag and swore under her breath as she rummaged. She regretted putting the books at the bottom. When she retrieved them she walked back to the Doctor putting the books on the chair next to him. She took a small card wallet out of her pocket, flipped it open and showed it to the Doctor "This is why I'm here."

"Collect the diaries, change the future." the Doctor read.

"I collected the diaries, went back to Stormcage and was given this," she took her own invitation out of her pocket. "Whatever I am meant to do to change the future has something to do with this."

"Who's future?" River asked.

"Whoever these diaries belong to." Oswin said. She walked away from the Doctor, leaning again against the TARDIS console.

"Are there any clues in the diaries as to whose they are?" Amy stepped forward to look at the diaries. She didn't recognise two of them, but the diary on the top was identical to River's.

"All of them have several pages torn out of the front and most of the remaining pages are blank. The last entry in all of them just say 'space 1969'. Only two of them have anything that resembles a name in them." Oswin said.

"What are the names?" the Doctor asked.

"The Girl Who Waited and the Last Centurion. I've no idea who they are or who the other diary belongs to." Oswin walked back over to her bag, leaving the four of them with a sinking feeling.

"Doctor." Amy started, but the Doctor raised a hand. She fell silent as Oswin returned. She dropped a fourth diary on top of the pile. It was near identical to River's diary, but the cover was worn and stained.

The Doctor opened the front cover of this new diary. He saw a small drawing of a bird and a name written beneath it in high Gallifreyan. "This is your diary." he said.

"These diaries are my only bargaining tools. For some unknown reason I am meant to change the future of people I don't even know. So if you can quickly decide whether this is something you're going to look into or not I would be grateful because right now I could be safe and comfortable at Stormcage." She stood back, arms crossed, waiting for the answer.

"Why your diary as well?" He looked up at her.

"Because I have your curiosity. I know what you're like Doctor. You know that in that book is the answers to all the questions buzzing around your head. If you investigate, and it turns out to be nothing or it all goes wrong, then my diary stays here and all your questions will be answered."

The Doctor got to his feet and stood in front of her "My life in your hands Oswin."

"Their future in yours."

"One question, why their future and not yours?"

"I don't have a future I have an existence. But there are three people out there somewhere that can have a decent future and a decent life if this goes well."

The Doctor studied her face carefully "You're looking a bit peaky."

"And you look haggard but you don't see me mentioning it. And its a bit hard to find time to eat anything when you're bouncing all over the place."

"Put the books back. You'll need to return them to their writers when we change their future."

She picked up the books again and walked back to her bag.

"River, that was your diary." Rory said, turning to River. As soon as he had looked at her he wished he hadn't. Her eyes were tear filled, and when she spoke her voice cracked and hitched.

"And one of the other two was yours."

"But her own diary. Was that blood?" Rory asked.

"If it's any help it was most likely her own." The Doctor said quietly, he walked over to them, where he had the perfect view of Oswin rummaging in her bag.

"That really doesn't help. But you're right. It will be her own," River tried to control her voice. She knew Aderyn too well. She knew it would be her own blood. "she's the same as she used to be."

"But that's not Aderyn. That can't be. Aderyn was kind and caring and wouldn't have been put in the Stormcage, never mind being the reason it was built." Amy said.

River shook her head sadly "that's not what I meant. She's the same as she was before the Doctor, before the TARDIS, before anyone ever cared about her." Before anyone could respond the Doctor shushed them. Oswin had stood up again and was walking towards them.


	8. I Was Looking For The Oblong Room

"So! Canton Everett Delaware III," The Doctor launched himself back at the TARDIS console. "Who is he?"

"Ex-FBI, got kicked out for having a problem with authority." River read from the scanner screen.

"Six weeks after he left the bureau the President contacted him for a private meeting" Oswin read over her shoulder.

"1969, who's president? And what are you doing Oswin, you're throwing off my stride?"

"Nixon and I'm feeling a bit peaky so I'm going to eat an apple." Oswin replied innocently. Rory and Amy peered round at her as the Doctor continued to play with the console.

"Are you putting a face on that apple?" Amy asked. River looked over her shoulder at Oswin, who was using a small knife to carve into the apple.

"Yeah I used to hate them but someone I once knew used to put faces on them. Somehow makes them more appealing."

"Who was it?" River asked.

"I don't remember," Oswin replied sadly, looking down at the apple "I only have 3 things to remember this person by and I have no idea who it is." She bit into the apple and realised she was being watched by all four of them.

"What do you have to remember this person?" the Doctor asked.

"Faces in apples, a ring and a tattoo that makes no sense. All I know is that its all to do with the same person. What I don't know is who it is or why I'm telling you all this."

"What's the tattoo?" Rory asked.

Oswin rolled up her shirt sleeve.

"Yep you're right it makes no sense"

"it's high Gallifreyan. I know what it says I just don't know what it means."

"what does it say?" Amy asked quietly.

"The only water in the forest is the river." The TARDIS shuddered and wobbled, drawing their attention back to their course.

"Ok we'll discuss that later. For now Washington DC. I don't know what we're getting into so we're being discreet, putting the engines on silent." He flipped a switch and walked around the console. A loud metallic screeching blared out and filled the room. Oswin stomped forward, flipping a different switch and putting an end to the screeching.

Having completed a circuit of the console the Doctor stopped in front of Oswin "Did you do something?"

"No just watching." Oswin said, quickly pretending to be more concerned with removing her eye patch.

"Putting the outer shell on invisible. Haven't done this in a while, big drain on the power."

"Wait, you can turn the TARDIS invisible?" Rory said.

The Doctor grinned and pushed a lever. Interior spotlights flooded the console room with a blinding light.

"Very nearly." River said, pushing a different lever. The lights went off again.

Having completed yet another lap of the console, the Doctor stopped in front of River "did you touch something?"

"No just admiring your skills."

"Good. Well I can't check the scanner. It doesn't work when we're cloaked. But we are in the middle of the most powerful city in the most powerful country on Earth. Let's take it slow." The Doctor walked towards the door.

The Doctor emerged into the Oval office. There were two men in the office. The Doctor guessed that one was Canton Everett Delaware. The other could only be the President. Luckily for him, both men had their backs to him. There was a recorder on the desk. The President had just pressed play. A child's voice echoed around the quiet room. The Doctor pulled a small notebook out of his pocket. This was interesting. A small child calling the President. That shouldn't be possible.

"I'm scared Mr President. I'm scared of the space man." the child on the recording said.

"A little girl." Canton breathed.

"Boy." Nixon said.

"What space man? Where are you phoning from, where are you right now? Who are you?" the Nixon recording asked.

"Jefferson Adams Hamilton." came the recorded reply. The dial tone soon followed this. The Doctor was still busy scribbling when both men looked round and saw him. He realised they'd stopped talking and waved his hand for them to continue as if he weren't there. He felt their eyes on him and looked up at them.

"Oh hello," he stammered "bad moment?" he started to back away from them "Oh this is the Oval office. I was looking for the oblong room. I'll just be going then." He turned quickly and was stopped in his tracks as he walked into the TARDIS, and proceeded to bounce off of it.


	9. They're Americans!

In the TARDIS River was stood in front of the scanner, flicking switches and pushing buttons. The TARDIS rocked as the Doctor connected with it. "Every time" she said under her breath.  
_

The Doctor stood up again "Don't worry," he said, rubbing his face "always does that when it's cloaked." He was soon on the floor again as Canton tackled him back down.  
_

With the final press of a few buttons the TARDIS scanner flashed into life.

"But he said it wouldn't work." Rory noted.

"I know. Bless him." River smiled.

With the scanner working they could safely observe the complete mess the Doctor was making.

They watched as several Secret Service agents pinned down the Doctor. He flailed pitifully against them.

"River have you got my scanner working yet?" he shouted.

"Oh I hate him." she said.

"No you don't." The Doctor shouted in response.

The Service agents began to usher the President out of the office.

"River, make her blue again!" The Doctor shouted, his voice somewhat muffled as his head was pushed further into the carpet.

River sighed and flicked a switch.  
_

The TARDIS shimmered for a second, before becoming a definite solid blue. Shocked, the Service agents and Canton leapt backward. The Doctor stood, brushed off his lapel, straightened his bow tie and walked behind the desk. He causally reclined slightly in the chair and put his feet on the desk.

The Service agents turned quickly towards him, guns raised.

"Mr President," he said "That child just told you everything you need to know, but you weren't listening. Never mind, the answer's yes. I'll take the case! Fellas, the guns, really? I just walked into the highest security office in the United States, parked a big blue box on the rug. You think you can just shoot me?"

Inside the TARDIS River and Oswin groaned. "He's such an idiot." Oswin breathed.

"They'll kill him." River said as she ran for the door. She burst quickly into the office. "They're Americans!" She shouted at the Doctor.

Realising his mistake, he stood up quickly, arms raised "Don't shoot, definitely no shooting!"

Rory and Amy slunk out of the TARDIS, arms raised in surrender.

"Don't shoot us either. Very much not in need of getting shot. Look, we've got our hands up." Rory said.

"Is there anyone else in that box? How many people can you get in there?" Canton said, trying not to sound too impressed.

"Well, I've never tried to find out how many people I can fit in there. But there is just one other person."

As though taking that as her cue, Oswin stepped out, hands in her pockets, a distinctly unimpressed glare darkening her features. She leant casually against the TARDIS. Her ease in this situation put the Service agents on edge.

A Service agent closet to the four pointed his gun at them, switching his line of sight between them all "Are you armed?" he shouted at them. River, Rory and Amy shook their heads mutely. Oswin smiled.

"Are you armed?" the Agent repeated, focusing his attention on Oswin.

"There's no need to shout I'm only a few feet away from you." She shouted back at him.

"Just answer the question." the Doctor snapped.

"Sorry what was the question? I don't think I heard it."

Failing to recognise the sarcasm the Agent asked again "Are you armed?"

River lowered an arm enough to nudge Oswin painfully in the ribs before she could let loose another sarcastic comment.

"Heavily. And if you make a wrong move you will find out how heavily armed I am." Oswin smiled.

River sighed "I really should have just let you be sarcastic."

"Who the hell are you? what the hell is that?" The President asked.

"It's a police box, can't you read?" the Doctor said "I'm your new undercover agent on loan from Scotland Yard. Codename the Doctor. These are my associates Pond, Williams, Song, and," there was a pause when he realised he didn't actually know Aderyn's surname "Oswin," he said after a moments consideration.

"Who are you?" Nixon asked again.

"Boring question," The Doctor said, standing with a flourish. "Who's phoning you? Now that's an interesting question. Canton three was right, that was definitely a girl's voice. And there is only one place she could have been calling from."

"Where?" Canton asked.

"Do not engage with the intruder, Mr Delaware." The head of security barked.

"You heard everything I heard, it's simple enough. Give me five minutes, I'll explain," he sat back down and stretched his legs out in front of him, his arms folded across his chest "On the other hand, lay a finger on me, or my friends, and you'll never, ever know. But what you will know is exactly how heavily armed Oswin is."

Canton looked round at the TARDIS "How did you get it in here? I mean you didn't carry it."

"Clever, eh?" the Doctor smiled.

"Love it." Canton smiled back.

"Do not compliment the intruder." The security officer barked his disapproval.

"Mr President, that man walked in here with a big blue box and four of his friends, one of them claiming to be heavily armed, and that's the man," Canton pointed at the head of security "he walked past. One of them's worth listening to. What say we give him five minutes, see if he delivers."

"Thanks, Canton."

"If he doesn't, I'll shoot him myself."

The Doctor's smile faded slightly "Not so thanks."

"Five minutes." Nixon said.

The Doctor stood triumphantly "I'm going to need a SWAT team ready to mobilise, street level maps covering all of Florida, a pot of coffee, 12 jammy dodgers and a fez."

"Get him his maps." Canton ordered.


	10. I Don't Have The Upper Hand Here

Maps soon littered every available surface in the office. Amy, Rory and the Doctor poured over them. River stood, leant against a sofa, watching Oswin. Oswin paced the room uneasily, watching the Service agents. River could see that she didn't really trust them and she was on edge. Every now and then, when a noise seeped through the open door, Oswin's hand would twitch closer to the poorly concealed gun holstered at her hip. River didn't doubt that Oswin was, indeed, heavily armed. Aderyn had always had a knack for concealing various weapons about her person. That was definitely a skill Oswin would have retained.

But Oswin's blase attitude towards the seriousness of the situation was somewhat distressing. She could easily have got them all in deep trouble. Luckily she had taken River's hint to no longer be sarcastic. But the sarcasm had been replaced by a nervous energy and almost confused demeanour. She had taken to staying close to Amy, never being more than a few feet away from her. But her stance was protective rather than defensive. A few times, Oswin had caught herself trailing behind Amy, then changed direction as though she were confused about where she was going.

"Why Florida?" Can ton asked, looking down at the map the Doctor was studying.

"Because that's where NASA is," the Doctor replied without looking up "The child mentioned a space man and NASA is where the space men live."

Amy walked over to River, keeping her voice low she whispered "A spaceman? Like the one at the lake?"

"Maybe." River whispered back.

"Probably." Oswin said as she walked passed them. Amy's hand shot out, stopping Oswin "You know something about this that you're not telling us." she said.

Oswin sighed "This is all new to me. I don't have the upper hand here. This may be my past, but I don't remember any of it."

"You knew the Doctor was going to die at the lake. That's why you weren't there," River said "I know there's a lot you can't tell us, but give us something. Please."

"All I can say is that the first time, I walked away from the lake and never saw the Doctor again." She said.

"Can't you give us something more then that?" Amy asked.

"Spoilers." She said as she walked away from them.

River, exasperated, threw herself onto a sofa. Amy stayed standing, her gaze drawn to the door. In the open doorway stood a tall figure in a suit. It had a large head, sunken eyes and no mouth. It's arms and legs were thin and it's fingers were elongated. She remembered that was the same strange figure she had seen at the lake.

"I remember." she said.

"Remember what?" Rory said. She looked at him. When she looked back, there was no one there and she couldn't remember what about the doorway had grabbed her attention. "I don't know." she said. She swayed slightly, a nauseous sensation tearing through her.

"Amy, what's wrong? Rory said, running up to her.

"Are you ok?" the Doctor asked looking up from the map.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just feel a bit sick," she walked over to one of the Service Agents at the door "Is there a toilet or something?"

"While this process is ongoing you must remain within the oval office." he told her.

"Shut up and take her to the restroom." Canton said sharply.

The Service Agent reluctantly stepped aside. Amy followed him. As Rory went to follow, a second Agent stopped him. Oswin pushed passed him, but she too was stopped.

"Ma'am," he said "you cannot leave this room with a weapon." Oswin undid the holster and threw it to River before pushing passed him with enough force to make him stagger.

She quickly caught up with Amy "I had to get out of there." she said. Amy leant closer to her and whispered "You don't trust him do you?" she indicated the Service Agent, who was walking ahead of them.

"Not even a little." Oswin replied.

When they reached the restroom the Agent made to follow Amy, but Oswin stopped him. Amy turned "Actually," she said "I can usually manage this alone."

As Amy vanished into the restroom, the Agent glared at Oswin "You don't trust me." he said.

"Nope." Oswin replied.

"How do we know we can trust you?"

She smiled at him "You don't." she said.

When Amy entered the restroom she saw a tall figure in a suit. Exactly the same as the one she saw at the lake. Exactly the same as the one she saw in the office.

"I've seen you before," she said "How did I forget? What are you?"

A woman emerged from a stall and walked to the sinks, oblivious of the creature stood beside her.

"Get back. Stay back from it." Amy said quickly.

The woman looked at her, confuse, before following Amy's line of sight and spotted the creature. She jumped and then laughed "Oh my God," she exclaimed "Is that a mask? Is it a Star Trek thing?"

"Get back from it now." Amy said.

The woman turned back to Amy "Back, Honey? "she said "Back from what?"

The lights flickered. Amy wanted to shout, knowing that Oswin would respond quickly. But fear had temporarily taken her voice and her ability to move.

"Oh those lights," the woman said as the lights continued to flicker "They never fix them."

Amy found her voice again "Look behind you." she said slowly.

The woman looked around again, and again she jumped "Oh my God look at that. Is that a Star Trek mask?" the woman paused, confused "Hang on, did I just say that?"

The creature raised it's hand, it's long fingers outstretched. A fork of electricity leapt from the creature's hand to the woman. She exploded in a shower of ashes.

"You didn't have to kill her," Amy said, she took her phone from her pocket "She couldn't even remember you. How does that work? We can only remember you while we're looking at you, is hat it?" she took a picture of the creature "Why did you kill her?"

"Joy, her name was Joy," the creature said in a low, rasping voice "Your name is Amelia. You will tell the Doctor what is must know and what he must never know."

Amy backed away until she reached the wall "How do you know that?"

"Tell him." the creature said.

Amy turned and ran for the door. As soon as she pushed the door open, she wondered why she felt so panicked.

"Are you okay?" Oswin asked her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Much better thanks." she replied.

Oswin cleared her throat and pointed at Amy's phone, still in her hand. "We're meant to be under cover, not drawing attention to the fact we're not from round here." Oswin said.

Amy put the phone back in her pocket "I have to tell the Doctor." she said.

"Tell him what?" The Service Agent asked.

Amy frowned "Sorry, I don't know why I said that."

They followed the Service Agent back to the Oval Office. Oswin constantly looking at Amy from the corner of her eye as they walked.


	11. Cool Aliens?

The Doctor, who had still been looking closely at the maps, pointed at a spot on the map as the phone began to ring.

"Here," he said "this is the only place in the Untied States that call could be coming from. It's obvious when you think about it."

"you, Sir," Canton said "are a genius."

"It's a hobby," the Doctor replied "Mr President, answer the phone, tell her help is on the way. Canton, on no account follow me into this box and close the door behind you." The Doctor launched himself towards the TARDIS, Rory, Amy, River and Oswin hot on his heels. Canton followed them into the TARDIS as the President picked up the receiver.

"Jefferson isn't a girls name. It's not her name either," the Doctor said "Jefferson, Adams, Hamilton."

"Surnames of three of the founding fathers." River said.

"Lovely fellows," the Doctor said absently "two of them fancied me."

Rory walked over to Canton, who was staring around the console room with amazement. "are you okay? Coping?"

"It's bigger on the inside." Canton said.

"Yeah," Rory said sympathetically "you get used to it."

The Doctor walked quickly around the console "The President asked the child two questions: where are you and who are you? She was answering where not who."

"Where would you find three, big historical names in a row like that?" Oswin asked.

"Here." the Doctor said. He walked passed Canton, who was still staring around the room.

"Are you taking care of this?" he asked Rory, walking away before Rory could protest.

"Why me?" Rory said.

"Because you're the newest," Amy said "And can you really see River or Oswin explaining this?"

"Fair enough." Rory said.

Amy and River walked passed them, following the Doctor. As Oswin went passed she gave Canton an amused smile, clapped Rory on the shoulder and whispered "Good luck with this, Roman."

The TARDIS had materialized in a cluttered, dingy office.

"Where are we?" Amy asked.

"About five miles from Cape Kennedy Space Centre. The President asked the girl where she was, and she did what any scared, lost little girl would do." The Doctor said. As he spoke he began to riffle through paper work on the untidy desk.

"What would any scared, lost little girl do?" Amy asked.

"Been there, done that," Oswin said, walking over to the window and parting the blinds "She looked out of the window. Hamilton Avenue, Jefferson Street, Adams Street. The only place in Florida, probably all of America, with those three street names on the same junction." She turned away from the window, becoming very interested in the phone on the desk.

Rory and Canton emerged from the TARDIS.

"We've moved, how can we have moved?" Canton said.

"You haven't covered space travel?" the Doctor said.

"I was going to cover it with time travel." Rory said defensively.

Oswin strode towards the TARDIS, stopping in front of Canton "It's a box that's bigger on the inside and travels through time and space." she said.

"Ok." Canton replied calmly. Oswin walked back into the TARDIS, emerging within a minute.

"Has anyone seen my eye drive?" she asked the room at large.

"Your what?" the Doctor asked.

"Eye drive," Oswin repeated. When she saw confused faces staring back at her she pointed at her eye and added "The eye patch. I left it on the console when I took it off," still seeing blank, confused expressions she closed the TARDIS door. "I'll look for it later."

"Right," the Doctor said "The little girl, lets find her." They followed the Doctor as he left the office.

"So it's a warehouse," Oswin said "Obviously disused. And of course this is certainly a trap."

"How do you know that?" Canton asked.

"The Phone in the office," Oswin said as she walked ahead of them "It was cut off. So how could the child phone from here?"

Rory caught up with River and Amy "She sounds a lot like the Doctor." he said.

"Occupational hazard." Amy said.

"Aderyn sounds like the Doctor, follows his train of thought. It's a good thing if Oswin sounds like the Doctor. That means there's some of Aderyn in there still." River said.

"Doctor, why would anyone want to trap us?" Amy asked.

"Well, let's see if anyone tried to kill us and work backwards." he said.

Oswin peered around an open doorway she had just walked through, smiling broadly "You guys have to see this."

Oswin had stumbled across a tilted operating table. There were tubes and cables attached to it and several of the components were definitely organic. And there were stacks of large crates and boxes scattered through out the room.

"It's non terrestrial." Oswin said.

"What do you mean non terrestrial?" Canton asked, following the path they had taken, but struggling to follow what was actually happening.

"Definitely alien," Oswin said "Not even from this time zone."

"Which is odd," the Doctor rummaged through a box and pulled out a helmet "Because look at this."

"It's earth tech," River said, looking at the helmet that had clearly come from an Apollo space suit "Contemporary"

"Very contemporary. Cutting edge. This is from the space programme." the Doctor said.

"Stolen?" Rory said "By aliens?"

"Probably." the Doctor replied, putting the helmet on.

"That makes no sense." Oswin said, frowning at the Doctor.

"She's right," River said "If you can come to Earth, then why steal technology that can barely make it to the moon?"

"Maybe cos it's cooler," the Doctor's reply was muffled. Oswin walked up to him and lifted the visor "Look how cool this stuff is." he said excitedly.

"cool Aliens?" Amy laughed.

"Well what would you call me?" the Doctor said, trying not to sound too offended.

"An alien." Oswin said, closing the visor.

"Oi!" the Doctor tried to sound as annoyed as he could, but behind the visor he was smiling.

"So, Canton," he said, removing the helmet "How are you coping?"

"I like your wheels." Canton said.

"That's my boy," the Doctor smiled "Right, Oswin, be on the look out. I'd rather not be taken by surprise."

Oswin ignored the gun at her hip, instead drawing a smaller, yet deadlier looking gun from a pocket inside her coat. Canton stared at her. "How many weapons do you have?" he asked.

Oswin paused, mentally counting "Only about four or five on me. But there's a few more back in the TARDIS."

"How are you hiding them?" Canton asked. Aside from the one at her hip and the one she held, he could not see any other weapons.

"Never trust a girl with pockets." She said cheerfully.


	12. Tried That Once, Ever So Dull

River knelt next to the table, lifting a cable that dripped something slimy as she held it up.

Amy bent down beside her "River..." she started.

"I know what you're thinking," River said quietly "You're thinking if we can find the spaceman in 1969 and neutralise it, then it won't be around in 2011 to kill the Doctor."

"Lucky guess." Amy huffed.

River dropped the cable she'd been holding "That's only because I was thinking it too. But it doesn't work like that. We're here because of what we saw in the future. If we try and prevent the future from happening we create a paradox."

"But that's what Oswin is doing." Amy whispered harshly.

"Listen Amy, the Doctor's death is a fixed point in time. Fixed points can't be rewritten. I don't think Oswin is trying to change the fixed point. I think she's trying to change what comes afterwards," she stood up "Oz, do you have a torch in one of those pockets?" Her answer came in the form of a torch being thrown in her direction. She followed a cable that led away from the table.

"Look at this," she said, pushing aside a manhole cover. She held up her scanner "There's a network of tunnels running under here. There's no life signs showing up."

"Be careful." Oswin said as River began to lower herself into the hole.

"Careful? tried that once, ever so dull."

Oswin rolled her eyes "Shout if you get in trouble."

River smiled up at her "Don't worry I'm quite the screamer, now there's a spoiler for you." she winked at Oswin before disappearing into the darkness.  
_

When River reached the bottom of the ladder she continued to follow the cable. She heard a chattering noise and aimed the torch light higher. The light landed on a group of creatures huddled against a wall. One of them stood. It was tall, wearing an immaculate suit. It had a large head, sunken eyes and no mouth. It's arms and legs were thin and long. She turned and ascended the ladder as quickly as she could. When she reached the top of the ladder she had no idea why she had been in such a rush.

"It's all clear, just tunnels," she said. But something just didn't sit right "There's nothing down there I can see. But give me five minutes. I want another look around."

"That's stupidly dangerous." the Doctor said.

River looked at Amy, who was stood close by "Look after him." she whispered before climbing back down the ladder.

"Rory, go with her please." the Doctor said.

Rory reluctantly walked towards the manhole.

"Hey, Roman," he looked round, Oswin was striding towards him. She handed him a gun "Give that to her."

Oswin went back to pacing between the doorways, gun ready and Rory walked over to the Doctor.

"That's the second time she's called me Roman." he said .

"I think she's starting to remember," the Doctor said "just little things for now, a nickname, the way she used to act towards someone. Very small things but she's remembering. And I think I know why."

Rory frowned at him "Why?"

Making sure Oswin couldn't see, he took a small, black metal eye patch from his pocket.

"Is that her eye drive thing?" Rory asked.

"Yes, and since she's not been wearing it, she's started to remember. Even if she doesn't realise, she is being who she's meant to be." The Doctor put the eye drive back in his pocket "Now go after River, don't let her get too much of a head start or you'll never find her down there."  
_

Rory climbed down the ladder, expecting to have to spend sometime trying to find River. But he was wrong. She was close by, leaning against a wall.

"Are you okay?" Rory asked, running over to her.

"I just feel a bit sick. It's all the prison food probably," she took a few deep breaths before stepping away from the wall and heading along the tunnel.

Rory followed nervously. Aside from the sounds of their own footsteps, there was another noise, But every time he tried to listen to it, it stopped.

As they walked, River kept her scanner at eye level.

"These tunnels are old, really old," River said "How can they be really old and no one has noticed them?" The light from her torch bounced off a metal door ahead of them.

"It's a maintenance hatch." Rory said.

River tried to turn the wheel, but it wouldn't moved "It's locked," she said, kneeling so she was eye level with the lock "why do people lock things?"

"What's through there? Something bad?" Rory said, taking a cautious step backwards.

"Most definitely."

"You're going to open it aren't you?"

River smiled deviously at him "It's locked. How is a girl supposed to resist?"

"Is this sensible?" Rory said.

"God I hope not," River said, beginning to work at the lock. "Keep a look out."

Rory turned his back on River, looking into the darkness that was the route they had just taken. He listened to the metallic noises of River at the door. He'd never spent any time alone with River, and he became suddenly aware of that. He didn't know what to say to her, or if it was even worth trying to make polite conversation.

"So, you and Aderyn." he said eventually.

"Spoilers." River said.

"No but there is something there. I mean there has to be. You know so much about her, about her future."

River let out a deep sigh "I thought I knew about her future. I first met her a long, long time ago. She knew all about me," When Rory heard the small noises River was making stop, he turned to face her. "Think about it," she said "Impressionable young girl and suddenly someone appears out of nowhere, they're clever, and mad, and wonderful and they know everything about her. Imagine what that does to a girl. Trouble is, it's all back to front. My past is her future. We're travelling in different directions. Every time I see her I know her more and she knows me less. I know each day I see her, she'll be one step further away. One day, I'll see her and she won't have a clue who I am. And I think that's going to kill me."

"But Oswin is Aderyn. And Oswin doesn't have a clue who you are." Rory said.

"That's her future not mine," River said, she stood and turned the wheel on the door "She's alive in her future. That's all I can think about right now." As she raised her hand to push open the door, Rory extended his own hand, offering the gun Oswin had given to him.

"Oswin told me to give you this. And if it's any help, she's starting to remember. She called me Roman. If it was all over for Aderyn then she wouldn't have remembered that. Aderyn is in there somewhere and the Doctor thinks he knows what the problem is. He'll sort it."

"I hope so." River said quietly, taking the gun from Rory and pushing open the door.

The room they entered was cavernous and there was the gentle hum of machinery.

"What is this place?" Rory asked.

"It looks like a control room." River said, taking a step toward the console in the middle of the room. An electronic wailing pierced the silence.

"It's an alarm," she said "quick, check if anything's coming." Rory looked through the open doorway. He was surprised to see tall alien creatures in suits walking menacingly towards him. He turned quickly, then became confused by his sudden panic.

"There's nothing there." he said to River.

River scanned the console's control panel. "The tunnels aren't just here, they're everywhere. They're running under the surface of the planet and they've been here for centuries."

Rory heard a crackle of electricity behind him. He turned slowly and was blinded by a flash of light.


	13. Not A Good Time Amelia

Canton watched the Doctor as he rummaged through a large crate.

"Doctor who, exactly?" he asked Amy. Amy turned her attention from Oswin, who had been pacing a continuous loop between the doors and the hole.

"That's classified." she said.

"Classified by who?"

"God knows." Amy said.

"But you work for him."

"He's my friend," Amy explained "If that's the right word. I had something I wanted to tell him, but stuff keeps getting in the way."

"Help me!"

The Doctor stood up straight, suddenly loosing interest in the crate, Canton drew his gun. Oswin stopped pacing halfway between a door and the open manhole. They all stared at the door, looking for the source of the shout.

"Help me!"

Canton sprang forward "That's her." he shouted, running for the door. Amy followed him.

"Oswin, stay here. Cover Rory and River." The Doctor said, chasing after them. As the Doctor ran into another room, he almost ran into Amy, who was doubled over. Canton had ran ahead of her.

"Are you okay?" What's wrong?" he asked her.

"I've got to tell you something. It's important, really, really important." She said.

"Not a good time." the Doctor responded, pulling her to her feet and dragging her along beside him. They heard Canton shout. But when they reached him, he was on the floor unconscious. They ran over to him, kneeling beside him.

"Is he ok?" Amy asked.

"Just unconscious. Got a proper whack though."

A cry echoed throughout the warehouse. "Please help me!"

Amy grabbed the Doctor's arm as he began to stand.

"Doctor," she pulled him back down "I've got to tell you now. It has to be now."

"This is really not a good time Amelia." he said sternly.

"No, it's important," she pulled him down again as he tried to stand. "Doctor, I'm pregnant."

The Doctor stared at her in disbelief, not sure what to say. But the matter was pushed from his mind when he heard thudding footsteps coming towards them. He looked up to see the astronaut.

"That's the astronaut." Amy said. She leant across Canton, grabbing his gun off the floor. She didn't see the astronaut raise the helmets visor to reveal the little girl.

"Help me!" she said. Amy turned, gun raised and fired. It wasn't until the bullet had left the gun that she saw the child and screamed.


	14. Better Defences Then The Weeping Anegls

River grabbed Rory and, pulling him to one side, she let out a series of gun shots.

"Run!" she shouted. She shot any creature that came towards them as they ran back along the tunnel. When they neared the ladder they could hear gun fire and Oswin shouting "River, Rory, get up here now."

"We're on our way." River shouted, scaling the ladder quickly. When she reached the top, Oswin had a gun in each hand. She stuffed one unceremoniously into her pocket so she could help them up. They heard a scream.

Oswin ran for the door. Rory and River close behind her. They found the Doctor leaning over Canton. Behind him, Amy sat on the floor shaking.

Canton sat up, clearly dazed.

"Everybody back to the TARDIS!" The Doctor shouted. They stumbled through the warehouse. River and Oswin kept their guns raised, constantly alert. They ran back to the office where the TARDIS was parked. Canton was the last one to enter the office, lingering in the doorway.

"What the hell is going on?" he said.

"I'll explain everything when we're back in the TARDIS. Now come on." The Doctor said. He ushered Amy and Rory towards the TARDIS, looking around sharply to encourage Canton to move. But he stopped, his attention drawn to a point behind Canton.

"Canton, you need to move right now." Oswin said. Canton turned. Behind him was a tall creature. The same tall creature as the ones that had been following them since the picnic by the lake. It reached out for him. Oswin pushed Canton aside and fired. As the creature fell, she spotted four more of them walking towards her.

"Incoming." she said, raising both guns and firing rapidly. Each shot hit it's target. Oswin provided cover at the door, shouting for everyone to retreat to the safety of the TARDIS. The Doctor stayed outside the TARDIS, transfixed momentarily as Oswin opened fire on the bizarre aliens. Each shot was expertly aimed and never missed.

"Oswin, come on." he shouted. Oswin lowered the guns and ran towards the TARDIS, uncomfortably aware of the way the hairs on the back of her neck stood up as a surge of electricity narrowly missed her. Inside the TARDIS, with the door closed, the Doctor launched them into the time vortex and rounded on Oswin "How the hell did you learn to shoot like that?"

"Well, I had to learn how to defend myself somehow." Oswin replied, putting both guns back into the her pockets. She was very aware of the Doctor's dislike of the use of weapons, but not everyone could talk their way out of a spot of bother.

"At what point does defending yourself mean shooting like a maniac?" the Doctor said.

Oswin crossed her arms, biting back the many comments she wanted the hurl at him. Instead she took a deep breath and spoke slowly and calmly "Psychopath not maniac. Maniacs are rude. Secondly, at the point when you when you weren't there."

"That's enough," Amy snapped "You two can argue about this later. We kind of have an alien invasion happening here."

"The tunnels that are under that warehouse have been there for centuries. But the tunnels aren't just under the warehouse, they run under the entire planet." River said quickly, eager to move away from the ensuing disagreement.

"And there was a control room in the tunnels." Rory said.

"OK, so they've been here for quite some time," Oswin said moodily, pacing around the console "And they've stolen equipment from the space programme, yet they clearly have very advanced technology."

"But what are they? What do they want?" Canton asked.

"Ah now that's where the problem is," Oswin said quietly "Can any of you remember what I was shooting at? Or why we've been running?"

No one could answer. They all looked around at each other, hoping that someone else would have the answer.

"What ever it was has a better defence mechanism then the Weeping Angels." Oswin mused.

"Well what ever it is, we forget them as soon as we look away," The Doctor said "We need to find out how far this goes."

"How are we going to do that?" Canton asked "If we do forget them, how are we meant to know?"

Oswin stopped pacing around the console "I have a plan," she said quietly "But it's not going to be fun or easy. I think it could work"

"You think? Only think it will work?" Amy said. She was still shaking. She wished she could forget shooting at the little girl. She was sure she'd missed because the girl had soon run away.

"We're being chased by something we forget once we look away. There isn't exactly a manual for this. But yes, I'm fairly certain it will prove useful. Well, I say it's a plan. It's more of an idea." Oswin said.

"What's the idea?" the Doctor asked. He was sceptical of what her idea could be, but it was the only idea they had.

"We need to run," Oswin said "We split up and run, find out where they are, how far their reach is."

There was a moment of silence as the Doctor considered this idea.

"That could work." he said eventually.


	15. Running

**This is going to be longer than the first two instalments in the series, I do apologize. But it will be worth it.**

* * *

3 MONTHS LATER

VALLEY OF THE GODS, UTAH

Amy ran. She had been running for a long time. Her legs ached and the hot, dry air was choking. She wanted to stop. She mentally cursed Oswin for the idea that they run.

They had returned Canton to the President's office, where he had declared them all criminals and, blissfully, given them a head start. The Doctor had stayed with him, the only one he'd caught. But the rest of them had run. She had run so far in the passed few months.

To an onlooker she was truly a strange sight to behold. Her hair was unkempt and her shirt and jeans were covered with dirt. But strangest of all was her arms. They were covered in black tally marks.

She knew she was coming to a dead end. There was a car approaching quickly from behind and another in front of her. She stopped running, gasping for breath. She had run to the dead end. A cliff. She looked over it. That was not a viable exit. The cars stopped. Canton stepped out of the one that had been behind her. Another man got out and unrolled a body bag. She panted heavily, somewhat glad that she could stop running now.

"Can you remember why you're doing this?" She said to Canton. He drew his gun and fired. Amy fell.  
_

NEW YORK

River and Oswin ran up the stairs. It had been a long run and they were both exhausted. The skyscraper they had run into was under construction, a cool breeze fluttered through. But it did little to quell the unearthly warmth of the night. They each had a pen in their hand, their arms, like Amy's, were covered in tally marks. As they looked around the deserted building they saw them. They both added marks to their arms. One of the aliens approached Oswin, it's arm raised, pointing accusingly at her.

"You should not be here." It rasped.

"And yet here I am." Oswin panted. They heard a clatter and footsteps behind them. They both turned. When they turned back there was nothing there. "We found them," River said looking down at her arm "And now we've been found." She backed towards the glassless window. Oswin followed her, shuffling her feet so she wouldn't fall just yet.

"Don't move. It's over." Canton said, pushing through the construction debris.

"They're here Canton, they're everywhere." River said.

"I know," Canton said "America is being invaded."

"You were invaded a long time ago. America is occupied." Oswin said, not daring to look away from Canton to see how close to the edge they really were. It wasn't time to fall just yet.

Canton sighed "There's no way out. Doctor Song, Oswin, you're coming with us."

"There's always a way out." River said. She took hold of Oswin's hand. That was the cue. River had reached the ledge a step or two a head of Oswin. Oswin took two large steps backwards, the last step taking her over the edge. Oswin and River fell backwards into the night sky.  
_

GLEN CANYON DAM, ARIZONA.

Rory ran. He was exhausted. He was on the top of the dam, the sun beating down on him with an unrelenting ferocity. His t-shirt was stained with sweat, his arms and face covered in tally marks. He stopped running when he saw the men in front of him. He turned and saw Canton, tailed by other agents, walking towards him. It was time to stop running. He peered over the side of the dam. That would be one hell of a fall, and that wasn't an option. He faced Canton "What are you waiting for?" he shouted.

"I'm waiting for you to run. It'd look better if I shot you while you're running. Then again," Canton raised his gun "Looks aren't everything." He fired. Rory fell.


	16. Don't Worry, They Do That

AREA 51

The Doctor sat in a hard metal chair, his movement restrained by a straight jacket and shackles around his legs. A wide yellow circle surrounded the chair and he could see signs warning people not to approach or interact with him. He watched as Canton ignored the signs and approached him. Canton stayed just outside the yellow circle. He threw a photograph onto the floor at the Doctor's feet.

"We found Amy Pond. She had strange markings on her arm. Do you know what they are?" Canton said.

The Doctor didn't look up from the photo of Amy's arm. It was covered in tally marks. This wasn't good.

"Why don't you ask her." the Doctor said quietly. He continued to stare at the photo, dimly aware of movement around him. When he looked up he realised that a wall was being built around him, the yellow circle acting as a guideline.

"We found Doctor Song and Oswin." Canton said. The Doctor looked up at him. Canton wasn't sure whether the Doctor had heard him or not.

"Those bricks, what are they made of? And where are they?"

Canton ignored the Doctor's first question. "They ran. They ran off the fiftieth floor."

The Doctor paid no attention to the answer, instead turning back to the huge black bricks being stacked up around him.

"I'd say zero balance dwarf star alloy. The densest material in the universe. Nothing gets through that. You're building me the perfect prison. And it still won't be enough." he said quietly.

The cell around him was constructed quickly. As each brick was put in place it melded perfectly with the other ones around it, forming a seamless unit. The Doctor watched from his chair as Canton entered the cell. He was followed by two people who dragged body bags behind them. The body bags were dropped in the cell.

"Is there a reason you're doing this?" the Doctor said.

"I want you to know where you stand." Canton replied cooly.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow at him "In a cell." he said sarcastically.

"In the perfect cell. Nothing can penetrate these walls. Not a sound, not a radio wave, not the tiniest particle of anything," Canton said. He nodded at the two security agents and they left the cell. Canton closed the door behind them. "In here, you're literally cut off from the rest of the universe. So I guess they can't hear us, right?" he said as the door closed. When it closed, the alloy sealing, the Doctor looked up at him.

"Door sealed?"

"You bet." Canton said smiling at him.

"Good work." the Doctor said, standing and shrugging off the straight jacket. He breathed a sigh of relief as the bodies in the body bags sat up. He opened one of them.

"Finally." Amy muttered as she fully undid the bag and stood up.

"These things can really do with air holes." Rory complained as Canton freed him from the bag.

"Isn't it going to look odd that you're staying in here with us?" Amy asked.

Canton shook his head "Odd but not alarming. They know there's no way out."

The Doctor slumped sideways. Grinning, he landed against the TARDIS. With a click of his fingers the doors sprang open.

"What about Doctor Song and Oswin," Canton said as they walked into the TARDIS "They dove off the fiftieth floor."

"Don't worry, they do that," The Doctor said "Amy, Rory, open all the doors to the swimming pool."  
_

NEW YORK

They fell through the night sky. Lights rushed passed them becoming a blur. They turned in the air, turning their fall into a dive. They fell through the open TARDIS door, landing safely in the swimming pool. The marks on their arms becoming a series of black smudges as they resurfaced.

Oswin hated being submerged in water and was more than grateful when she kicked her way to the edge of the pool. She clung to the side of the pool, exhaustion taking its toll. She gasped for breath as she struggled to pull herself out of the water. She was relieved when she felt a hand grab her and hoist her out.

River had seen the fear in Oswin's eyes as she'd clung to the side of the pool. But her fear had not overridden the exhaustion and she had not been able to pull herself out of the water. River had easily cut through the water and clambered out. She ran over to Oswin, grabbing her arms and raising her out of the water. She felt Oswin tremble as she lifted her.

"You okay?" River said quietly.

Oswin straightened up, pushing her wet hair out of her face. "I'm fine. Just tired," She said "And thanks . But please don't mention that to anyone else."

"I won't. I promise." River said soothingly.


	17. Today The Battle Begins

"Oswin, River, nice of you to join us," the Doctor said cheerfully as they entered the console room. "So right, what do we know?"

"We know they're everywhere." Oswin said.

"Right, not just a landing party, an occupying force, and they have been here a very, very long time. But nobody knows that, because no one can remember them." the Doctor said as he walked around the console.

"What are they up to?" Canton asked.

The Doctor paused "No idea. But the good news is, we have a secret weapon." He threw open the TARDIS doors. They followed him. In the distance they could see a Saturn V rocket is on the launch pad.

"Apollo 11 is your secret weapon?" River said.

"Well, kind of," the Doctor said. "But there are other things to do first." He walked back into the TARDIS.

When they walked back into the TARDIS, the Doctor was nowhere to be seen. He walked back into the console room a few moments later with a broad grin on his face. "I have a plan." he declared. He walked up to Canton, grabbing his hand. He quickly injected something into Canton's palm. "So, three months, what have we found out?" the Doctor asked, slowly walking around the group gathered around the console.

"Well, they're everywhere, every state in America." Rory said, he jumped violently as the Doctor injected his palm.

"Not just America, the entire world. But there's a greater concentration here though." River said. She glared at the Doctor as he walked passed her and Oswin. He didn't feel like taking them on just yet.

The Doctor reached Amy, who held out her palm "Are you ok?" he asked her quietly.

"All better. Turns out I was wrong." She said. The Doctor injected her hand then moved on quickly.

"So you've seen them, but you don't remember them." Canton said.

"You've seen them too, in the warehouse," River said "While you were pretending to hunt us down, we saw hundreds of those things. We still don't know what they look like."

"It's like they edit themselves out of your memory as soon as you look away. The exact second you're not looking at them, you can't remember anything. Sometimes you feel a bit sick, though, but not always." Amy said.

"So that's why you marked your skin? So you knew you'd seen them."

"Exactly. It was the only way we'd know if we had an encounter." Amy said.

The Doctor watched Oswin. She was being suspiciously quiet. And if he concentrated, he was sure he could see her shiver. He would very much be keeping an eye on her.

"How long have they been here?" Canton asked.

"That's what we've spent the last three months trying to find out. Not easy, if you can't remember anything you discover." Rory said.

"How long do you think?" Canton said.

"As long as there's been something in the corner of your eye, or creaking in your house, or breathing under your bed, or voices through a wall." Oswin murmured. She didn't notice the Doctor approach behind her but she flinched when he injected her hand.

"They've been running your lives for a very long time now, so keep this straight in your head. We are not fighting an alien invasion, we're leading a revolution. And today, the battle begins." The Doctor said.

"How?" Oswin asked.

"Like this," the Doctor lunged at River, injecting her hand before she could object and moving quickly to avoid a retaliatory swipe. "Nanorecorder," the Doctor held up a tiny capsule before injecting it into his own hand "Fuses with the cartilage in your hand. It tunes itself directly to the speech centres in your brain. It'll pick up your voice, no matter what. Telepathic connection. So, the moment you see one of the creatures, you activate it, and describe aloud exactly what you're seeing," As he spoke he pressed his palm. When he released it, the nanorecorder in his palm flashed. He pressed it and heard himself say everything he had just told them. "The minute you break contact with it, you'll forget everything. So check your hand. The light will flash if you've left yourself a message. That'll be the first you'll know about it if you've seen them."

"Why didn't you tell me this before we started?" Canton said.

"We did, but even information erases itself over time." Oswin said. Canton turned to her but she wasn't looking at him. She was looking passed him. He turned. When he turned back he raised his hand and straightened the Doctor's bow tie. He looked up to find them all staring at him.

"What are you staring at?" he said.

"Look at your hand and remember what you were just told." River said slowly. Canton looked at his hand, confused to find the light in his palm flashing. He looked up at the Doctor, who nodded encouragingly. He pressed his palm and heard the Doctor's voice "Keep eye contact with the creature and, when I say, turn back, and when you do, straighten my bow tie."

Canton turned again and saw the creature stood behind him.

"It's a hologram, extrapolated from the picture on Amy's phone," the Doctor flipped a switch and the creature disappeared. "Now can any of you remember what it looks like?" They shook their head "No neither can I. You straightened my bow tie because I planted the idea in your head while you were looking at the creature."

"So their ruling the world by posthypnotic suggestion." Oswin said quietly. The Doctor looked at her with concern. Something really wasn't right. She had become so quiet and withdrawn.

"Yes," the Doctor said "Now then, a little girl in a spacesuit. They got the suit from NASA, but where did they get the girl?"

"Could be anywhere." Canton said.

"Except it's not just anywhere. They'd probably stay close to that warehouse, because why bother doing anything else? And they'd take her from somewhere that would cause the least amount of attention." Oswin said.

"Good," the Doctor said "Oswin, Canton, Amy, go and look for the girl."

"Look where?" Amy asked.

"Children's homes." Oswin muttered.


	18. I Sent Him A Message

There were three children's home near the warehouse. They spilt up. Canton and Amy going to one, and Oswin to the other. But with no luck. Canton picked up Oswin from outside the one she'd been to.

"That's not where she was taken from." Oswin said.

"Just one left. Greystark Hall, run by Doctor Renfrew." Amy said, looking down at the notes she'd written about the homes.

Oswin shifted uncomfortably in the back seat of the car. She didn't like the fact the Doctor had made her clear out her pockets before they had left. She only had one weapon now. She didn't like having so few weapons. And she certainly didn't like the fact she still couldn't find her eye drive. In the side mirror, Amy saw Oswin repeatedly raise her hand to her eye, the same eye that had been covered by the eye patch.

"Still don't know where your eye patch is?" Amy said conversationally.

"It's an eye drive." Oswin said, lowering her hand.

"What does it do?"

"It's like a tiny computer except it's linked to the wearer's brain. I can't remember not having it." Oswin said quietly. Without her eye drive and with only one weapon she felt exposed.

The night was dark and stormy. As they arrived a flash of lightning gave the large building a sense of foreboding. Before stepping out of the car they each checked their palms and arms. No flashing light and no tally marks. They were clear. Oswin turned her collar up against the rain and wind, thankful for the warmth of her long coat.

When Canton knocked heavily on the door, Oswin felt uneasy. There was something about this place that made her feel wary. She was glad now that she had come along. She wouldn't have liked the idea of Amy going into this place without her.

The door was opened a fraction and a worried face peered out at them "Hello?"

Canton stepped forward, showing the man his badge "FBI. You must be Doctor Renfrew. Can we come in?"

Doctor Renfrew looked at the badge but shook his head "The children are asleep." he said.

"We'll be very quiet. But it is important that we talk to you. It's about a missing child." Oswin said.

Renfrew frowned at her "Yes, come in, please. This way," he held the door open wide enough for them to slip through. The entrance hall was bare and looked derelict. The wallpaper was aged and was peeling of in several places . "Please excuse the writing. It keeps happening. I try to clean it up." Renfrew said as they followed him up that stairs. Oswin and Amy looked at the writing all the wall, both feeling the same sense of trepidation. In tall, red letters the words "Get Out, Leave Now" were scrawled across the wall.

"We nearly didn't come to this place. I understood Greystark Hall was closed in 67." Canton said.

"Yes that is the plan. Not long now." Renfrew replied.

Oswin stopped in her tracks "It's 1969." she said.

"No, no. We close in 67. That's the plan," Renfrew said, turning to her "My office is this way." he pointed down a corridor.

"Canton, I think this is the place," Oswin said quietly "Me and Amy will check upstairs. Get this over as soon as possible."

"Be careful." Canton said as he turned to follow Renfrew. Amy and Oswin continued the walk up the stairs. Amy took her phone out of her pocket, quickly calling the Doctor.

"Doctor, I think we've found the place she was taken from. Those things have been here. But the whole place is deserted. And there's just this one guy and I think he's lost it."

"Ok," the Doctor replied "Repeated memory wipes fry your head eventually. Find out what you can, but don't hang around. Got to go, I've got company."  
_

The Doctor hung up the phone. He sat up quickly, smiling guiltily at the officers that were staring at him. "Hello, Don't worry I put everything back. Except this." he held up a small part of the Apollo 11 rocket. His own device beeped quietly within the workings of the shuttle.

He was taken to a vast lecture hall. He sat in a chair, his hands in cuffs.

"Now, one more time, sir. How the hell did you get into the command module?" the security officer said.

The Doctor rolled his eyes "I told you, I'm on a top secret mission from the President."

The officer put his hands on his hips and smiled with false amusement "Well, maybe if you just get President Nixon to assure us of that, sir, that would be swell."

The Doctor stopped trying to chew through the cuffs "I sent him a message."

The President walked into the hall, River and Rory tailing behind him. He addressed the two officers who were standing guard over the Doctor. "Mr Gardener, Head of Security, and Mr Grant," he said, walking forward and shaking the men's hands. "This man, here, code name the Doctor, is doing some work for me personally. Could you cut him a little slack?"

"Sir, he did break in to Apollo 11." Gardner said. The President frowned at the Doctor, who looked at him sheepishly and mouthed "Sorry."

The President put a hand on each of the men's shoulder. "I'm sure he had a very good reason for that. But I need you to release him now so he can get on with some very important work for the American people. Could you do that for me?"

The two men looked at him uncertainly. "Well, I guess that would be fine." Gardner said. The President smiled broadly at them "Glad to hear it."


	19. You Should Not Be Here

Amy and Oswin reached the top of the stairs, where the darkness left them unable to see clearly down the hall.

"You heard the Doctor, let's not stick around. I'll go one way, you go the other." Oswin said.

Amy nodded "I agree. This place gives me the creeps. I don't want to be here too long."

Amy turned left at the top of the stairs, Oswin turned right.

Amy pushed open the first door she came to. Although the hall had been closed for two years, the dishevelled state of the building gave her the impression that it had been deserted for much longer. A thick layer of dust covered the floorboards, muffling her footsteps. The metal beds within the dormitory were rusted and the paint was flaking. Large black letters covered the walls, masking the remains of the aged wallpaper beneath it.

Leave Me Alone, Get Out Now.

She heard a shuffle of feet, when she turned she saw the door had closed behind her. She walked quickly towards the door and tried to yank it open. Panic rose when the door didn't move. As she looked down at the door handle she saw a blinking red light. She looked down at her palm and pressed the light and her own voice broke the silence.

"I can see them, but I think they're asleep. Get out. Just get out!" She ran to the window and tried desperately to open it. When she looked down at her arms they were covered in tally marks. A flash of lightning made her jump and illuminated her reflection in the window. Her face was covered in an array of tally marks. She heard a chattering noise and looked up. The creatures were hanging from the ceiling, clustered together like bats. She slowly walked to the door. Her heart skipped a beat when her foot connected with a bucket and the creatures began to stir. She ran, tearing open the door and fleeing into the hall. She stopped outside the dormitory, her breath coming in short gasps, her heart pounding furiously against her rib cage. She had no idea why she was so scared.

Down the hall, Oswin pushed open a door. She was unsurprised by the run down state of the dormitory she walked into. But she was surprised by a collection of trinkets that littered the top of a set of drawers. There were pictures and small, seemingly insignificant items. She walked over to the drawers, casting a quick glance over the cluttered surface. Something caught her eye. She picked it up. It was a small, silver object that looked like an eye patch. She could see the shape of an eye embossed into it. It was an eye drive, slightly larger than her own. She stared at it for a moment, before putting it in her pocket. She would find out who's it was later, for now, she had something more important to do.  
_

Canton searched through files in a large metal filing cabinet. Renfrew watched him with uncertainty.

"This place, it's been closed for years. What have you been doing?" Canton asked. He expected Renfrew to, once again, tell him that he was planning to close the hall soon. But instead, Renfrew looked at him with a confused scowl "The child must be cared for. It's important, that's what they said."  
_

Amy continued her slow walk along the hall. As her torch light bounced off a door, a hatch in the door opened. A woman peered at her from the hatch. She had an eye patch covering one eye. Amy saw the eye patch was similar to Oswin's eye drive. But it was silver instead of black. The woman smiled at her then turned her head slightly and spoke to someone Amy couldn't see.

"No, I think she's just dreaming." the woman said before she closed the hatch. Amy burst through the door. She had entered a cosy looking child's room. But there was no one there. When she looked at the door, the hatch was gone. Amy stepped further into the room. The other rooms she had come across had been in varying states of dilapidation. But this room showed signs of use. There was a cot with a brightly coloured mobile hanging above it. The mobile turned gently and the soft glow of a night light illuminated the room. The walls had no signs of the warning messages scattered throughout the rest of the building. There were several framed photographs on a chest of drawers. Amy looked at them and gasped when she saw a photo of a smiling woman holding a baby. Her hands shook as she stared at it. The woman in the picture was her.

"How can that be me?" she whispered to herself. She heard thudding footsteps behind her. She turned as the door was pushed open fully and the astronaut walked in. The astronaut raised the gold shield that covered it's visor revealing the little girl. The glass of the visor was cracked where the bullet had hit it.

"I'm sorry I shot you. But you're going to kill the Doctor,"Amy said. She took a step back, hitting the chest of drawers as she went. "But who are you? I don't understand. Please tell me." Two of the strange aliens entered the room behind the little girl. Amy screamed.  
_

Oswin pushed open a second door and gave the room a cautionary glance before she entered. Bookcases lined the walls and a small desk had been placed in front of the window. The light from a small desk lamp cast odd shadows across the floor. Lightning flashed, elongating the eerie shadows. For a split second Oswin could have sworn she had two shadows.

Somewhere from the deep recesses of her memory she heard a voice shout "Count the shadows!"

A sudden fear tore through her. The lightning flashed a second time. Again, for that split second, she saw two shadows. She dropped the torch and ran for the door. She had just slammed it shut behind her when she heard a scream. She turned quickly and saw it. The alien loomed over her.

"You should not be here." It said.

"I remember you." Oswin said shakily.

"You should not be here." It repeated.

"And yet here I am. You should not be here either." Oswin said. She put her hand into her pocket, comforted by the feel of the gun as she closed her hand around it. She heard a panicked shout "Somebody help me! I can't see." It was Amy. And Amy was in trouble.

"Why are you here?" the creature said, moving a step closer to her.

"So I can right all the wrongs you made me do." She drew the gun from her pocket and fired. The alien sank to the floor. Oswin leapt over it and ran down the hall. "Amy!" she shouted "Where are you?"

She heard Canton call from further down the hall "Oswin, she's down here. I can't get the door open. I'm going to blow the lock." She heard the wheezing groan of the TARDIS. Canton had enough sense to call the Doctor.

Oswin made it down the hall at a high speed run. Without slowing she crashed into the door before the Doctor had a chance to get his screwdriver out of his pocket. She stumbled, righted herself and managed to stop running in time to prevent herself tripping over the space suit that was lying empty on the floor. Amy was nowhere to be seen. As she turned this way and that, looking for anywhere that Amy could be hiding, Oswin's attention was caught by a small red light flashing on the carpet. She dove forward and scooped it up. "It's her nanorecorder." she breathed. Amy's voice rang out from the recorder "It's dark. I can't see anything. I don't know where I am. Somebody help me."

"Is it a recording?" River asked quietly.

"No," the Doctor said "It defaults to live. This is current. Wherever she is right now, this is what she's saying. We can hear her but she can't hear us."

Rory looked helplessly at the Doctor "What do we do?"

Before he could answer Oswin spoke "I fired this recently." She was staring at the gun, still held tightly in her hand. She suddenly held her the rocorder out to Rory, thrusting into his hand before turning and leaving the room. She walked quickly down the hall.

Oswin could hear hurried footsteps as the other's ran to catch up. "I know I came along here." she said, more to herself then anyone else. The door she remembered slamming shut behind her was now open. She stopped in her tracks, reluctant to enter that room again.


	20. Count The Shadows

The Doctor hadn't expected Oswin to stop so suddenly. He leapt aside to avoid colliding with her and skidded to stand still. As he looked at her he saw a look of fear on her face. But he realised this wasn't just fear, it was a look of pure terror. "Are you okay?" he asked. He was almost thrown forwards as Rory had failed to stop running in time and crashed into him. He righted himself and threw Rory a dark look as Oswin replied "Count the shadows."

"What was that?" The Doctor asked quietly. The disappearance of Amy suddenly pushed from his mind.

"Count the shadows," She repeated "Someone said that to me once. I thought I saw two shadows. I panicked. I know I closed this door when I heard Amy scream. Something happened. And now this door is open again. Why?"

The Doctor stepped forward, peering carefully around the door frame. He heard an sharp intake of breath next to him. Oswin was definitely terrified. And rightfully so if she was remembering the library. When he looked into the room he saw it. The alien creature clutching at it's chest where Oswin had shot it.

"It's okay." He said quietly. He instinctively reached a hand back to Oswin, as he had done so many times with Aderyn. He was relieved when he felt her hand close around his. He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze as he walked into the room.

The alien shifted backwards, dragging itself away from them. The Doctor stepped cautiously into the room "Okay," he said "Who and what are you?"

"We are the Silence." It replied between laboured breaths.

"Silence will fall," Oswin said quietly, stepping into the room "I've heard that so many times, Doctor. But what does it mean?"

"I don't know yet." The Doctor replied. He, himself had heard that so many times. Prisoner Zero had told him those exact words. And Rosanna Calvierri had told him that she had fled from the Silence. The Doctor turned. Oswin was stood close to the door and River and Rory were both stood in the doorway.

"What do we do?" River asked.

"I have a plan." the Doctor replied slowly.

The Doctor's plan consisted of getting the creature back to the TARDIS and taking it to Area 51. Rory and Canton opted to half carry, half drag the alien back to the TARDIS. Oswin was clearly still shaken up by whatever she had remembered. And River had thought it a good idea to leave the Doctor's hands free. This had proved a good move. Oswin spent the, somewhat slow, walk back to the TARDIS clinging to the Doctor's sleeve. Rory had given her Amy's nanorecorder to hold. She kept it clutched tightly in her palm, muffling the sounds of Amy's cries.

With Canton and the alien safely sealed in the alloy prison, the Doctor took the TARDIS back to the warehouse, intent on studying the space suit that had been thrown to the floor of the TARDIS. For an empty space suit it had been a struggle to move. It had taken Oswin, River and Rory just to lift it and drag it into the TARDIS. It had been more of a struggle once they reached the warehouse. The Doctor had allowed Oswin to gather another weapon from the TARDIS. Now with a sword belted at her back and a gun in hand she walked ahead of them, her gun constantly raised, the Doctor, River and Rory close behind her dragging the suit beside them.

"What do you remember about the shadows?" the Doctor asked conversationally as they walked slowly through the warehouse.

"The need to count them. And something about books. And..." she stopped talking.

"And what?" River panted. She hadn't realised how strong Oswin was until she wasn't there to help them with the suit.

"Spoilers." Oswin replied quietly. She turned quickly, pushed Rory aside, gave him her gun and grabbed the suit. Their progress through the warehouse became quicker with Oswin bearing the brunt of the weight.

With minimal effort they managed to lift it onto the tilted table. The Doctor sonicked the lights above it and the harsh glare illuminated the suit. It had be torn in the middle. River looked at it aghast.

"It's an exoskeleton. Basically, life support. There's about twenty different kinds of alien tech in here," she breathed "You put this on, you don't even need to eat. The suit processes sunlight directly. It's got built in weaponry, and a communications system that can hack into anything."

"Including a telephone network?" Oswin asked. She bent close to the suit, examining the tear.

"Easily. It defaults to the highest authority it can find. The little girl gets frightened, the most powerful man on Earth gets a phone call. The night terrors with a hotline to the White House." River replied with awe.

"But what are the Silence doing?" Rory asked.

"Raising a child by the looks of it," the Doctor said "Giving her independence, keeping her safe. Of course, it's possible she's not just any little girl."

Oswin stood up straight "She's human judging by the life support systems."

"But?" River said slowly, drawing the word out.

"But, look at this," Oswin pointed at the tear "This suit is heavy, tough, painfully resiliant. The little girl, whoever she is, forced her way out of it. She must be incredibly strong." A thoughtful silence followed this. The Doctor and River both bent over the suit. Rory stayed quiet, toying with the nanorecorder he had got back from Oswin.

"You okay there Rory?" Oswin asked.

He closed his hand around the recorder again "Why does that look like a NASA spacesuit?"

"Because that's what the Silence do. Think about it. They don't make anything themselves. They don't have to. They get other life forms to do it for them." the Doctor said with false cheer.

"So they're parasites?" Rory said.

"Superparasites," Oswin said. She fidgeted nervously as she spoke, waving her arms theatrically "Standing in the shadows of human history since the very beginning. We know they can influence human behaviour any way they want. If they've been doing that on a global scale for thousands of years."

"Then what?" River asked.

"Then why did the human race suddenly decide to go to the Moon?" the Doctor said, watching Oswin with amusement as she paced around the table.

"Ok, can you two stop doing that. It's like trying to talk to to Doctor's." Rory said.

The Doctor smiled "You say that like it's a bad thing."


	21. The Wrath Of An Angry Scot

Canton held the phone out, pointing the camera at the creature. The Doctor had given him a brief explanation of what he needed to do, but he was still somewhat confused about how it would help. Oswin had told him to just go with whatever the Doctor tells him to do, the Doctor is usually right.

"You are foolish." the alien rasped at him. Canton had attempted to tend to the alien. Apparently the Doctor's plan required it to be alive.

Canton shrugged and hit the record button on the phone "Why? What would you do in my place?"

The alien tilted it's head to one side, it's voice, though still a pained rasp, had a more determined edge "We have ruled your lives since your lives began. You should kill us all on sight, but you will never remember we were even here. You will evolve."

Canton smiled "Yeah? Well, sorry to disappoint you, but thanks. That's exactly what I needed to hear. This is a videophone. Whatever a videophone is." He sent the video to the Doctor.  
_

In the warehouse, the Doctor's phone beeped. He looked at the video Canton had said and smiled to himself when he saw the Silence say "You should kill us all on sight." that would do nicely. That was just what they needed.

Rory was pacing around the table, unwilling to get to close to the suit. Oswin and River were bent over it. The suit's glove twitched.

"This suit, it seems to be repairing itself." River mused.

Oswin took a step away from it "A unit like this could probably move without an occupant." She said.

The Doctor looked up to face her "What?"

Oswin took another step backwards "The little girl said the space man was coming to eat her. Maybe that's what happened." In the silence that followed this statement, they heard Amy's pleas for help. Rory still had the nanorecorder. It was a stark reminder to Oswin about how stupid she had been to suggest they split up.

Rory had stopped pacing and sat down, leaning against a crate, the nanorecorder flashing in his hand.

"I love you. I know you think it's him. I know you think it ought to be him, but it's not. It's you. And when I see you again, I'm going to tell you properly, just to see your stupid face. My life was so boring before you just dropped out of the sky. So just get your stupid face where I can see it, okay? Okay?" Oswin looked away from him, unable to bear the guilt. But when she spoke, it was clear she who she was speaking to. "I'm sorry," she said quietly "I suggested we split up. I shouldn't have done that."

"It's not your fault." Rory replied, just as quietly. Oswin walked over to him, leaning against the crates opposite "You may not see it as my fault, but she might."

"She won't," Rory said. He'd been aiming to sound comforting and reassuring. It wasn't Oswin's fault at all. But instead he'd sounded angry. He cleared his throat and tried again "She won't."

"You say that," Oswin said, with a tiny hint of amusement that made Rory look up at her "But you won't be the one to deal with her if she does. I do not wish to incur the wrath of an angry Scot." After a moment of silence, the four of them erupted into nervous laughter.

"We'll get her back." the Doctor said, trying to control his laughter.

"How?" Oswin asked.

"Well we can track the signal back. Take us right to her." The Doctor said, his smile faded.

"Then let's do that." Rory said quickly standing.

"Then what?" River said. "This isn't an alien invasion. They live here. This is their empire. This is kicking the Romans out of Rome."

"I feel like I should point out that Rome fell," Oswin said. She picked up the sword she'd taken off her back "Rome fell. And so will they. I know you're against violence Doctor, but not everyone can talk their way out of a spot of bother. We get her out of where ever she is, whatever it takes. I'll leave the rest up to you."

The Doctor looked at her carefully. She had a look in her eyes that the Doctor was used to seeing. It was a look of pure determination. There was no way she'd back down. "Ok," he said eventually. "But there's something I need to sort out first. I need you to get me a couple of bits from the TARDIS."

With Oswin out of the way, the Doctor paced frantically. "Will this work? It should. I can't see why it won't." he said to himself.

Rory sidled closer to River "River, you said that Oswin is how Aderyn was before the Doctor and before the TARDIS." Rory started.

"And before anyone cared." River said.

"What did you mean?"

"Aderyn was adopted when she was a baby. But the people that adopted her didn't care about her. No one did. She had no friends, no family. All she knew was depression. She was always angry and a little bit volatile."

"A little bit?" the Doctor exclaimed. "More than a little bit. She was self harming, suicidal and more than happy to get into a fight."

"So, she was Oswin?"

River and the Doctor nodded "Yes, just without the murderous tendencies." River said.


	22. You Should Kill Us All On Sight

Amy opened her eyes. At first, she wasn't sure whether she had actually opened her eyes. The darkness around her was consuming. She couldn't move her arms or legs. She had been strapped to a tilted table.

"Where am I? Where is this?" She said to herself. Through the darkness a figure walked towards her. It leant over her menacingly. "You are Amelia Pond." It said.

"And you're ugly. Has anyone mentioned that to you?" she snapped "You've made a big mistake, bringing me here, because wait until you see what's coming for you now." She hoped she sounded braver then she was feeling. She was still confused as to how she had got here. Or where here even was.

"You have been here many days." It said to her. No, that couldn't be right. Rory and the Doctor wouldn't have let her be gone so long.

She heard a familiar whoosh and smiled "You really made a mistake."

The TARDIS materialized and the Doctor stepped out, beaming. He raised his screwdriver and dim lights flickered into life. The Doctor strode confidently amongst the Silence, which appeared out of the darkness that remained and surrounded them. "Oh, hello. Sorry, you were in the middle of something. I just had to say, though, have you seen what's on the telly? Oh, hello, Amy. Are you all right? Want to watch some television?" The Doctor put the small television on the console "Ah. Now, stay where you are. Because look at me, I'm confident. You want to watch that, me, when I'm confident. Oh, and these are my friends River and Oswin. They have their own guns and a sword, and unlike me, they really don't mind shooting people." River and Oswin had their backs to each other, stood behind the Doctor with their weapons raised. River looked over her shoulder at Oswin.

"I shouldn't like that. Kind of do, a bit."

Oswin looked back at River, flashing her a flirty smile "Thank you, sweetie."

Ignoring them, the Doctor continued to address the Silence "I know you're team players and everything, but Oswin will definitely kill at least the first three of you."

With a glance over her shoulder at River, Oswin commented "Well, the first seven, easily."

With only the tiniest hint of a girlish giggle River replied "seven? Really?"

"Oh, eight for you, honey." was Oswin's sultry reply.

"Stop it." River said playfully.

"Make me."

"Yeah? Well, maybe I will."

The Doctor cleared his throat and they looked round. The Silence and the Doctor were staring at them, heads tilted slightly to one side as though confused.

The Doctor sighed "Are we interrupting?"

"And is this really important flirting? Because I feel like I should be higher on the list right now." Amy shouted, craning her neck so she could glare at them.

"Sorry." Oswin mumbled and turned away from them to hide her blush.

"Right," the Doctor continued, once again turning his attention back to the Silence. "As I was saying, my lovely friends here are going to kill the first three of you to attack so maybe you want to draw lots or have a quiz. " The Doctor shifted his gaze around, keeping one of the aliens in sight at all times.

With the aliens distracted, Rory walked over to Amy, desperately trying to free her from her restraints.

"What is he planning?" Amy whispered.

"I have no idea. But I know Oswin is planning violence."

"Well, let's hope the Doctor has got something." Amy said.

The Doctor continued to talk, barely pausing for breath "Or maybe you could just listen a minute. Because all I really want to do is accept your total surrender and then I'll let you go in peace. Yes, you've been interfering in human history for thousands of years. Yes, people have suffered and died, but what's the point in two hearts, if you can't be a bit forgiving, now and then?" There was no answer from any of the aliens as they began to approach the Doctor. The Doctor was undeterred "Okay, you got me. I'm lying. I'm not really going to let you go that easily. Nice thought, but it's not Christmas,"

On the TV, the moon landing became a surreal soundtrack to the stand off.

"Guys, sorry, but you're way out of time. Now, come on. A bit of history for you. Aren't you proud? Because you helped. Now, do you know how many people are watching this live on the telly? Half a billion. And that's nothing, because the human race will spread out among the stars. You just watch them fly. Billions and billions of them, for billions and billions of years, and every single one of them at some point in their lives, will look back at this man, taking that very first step, and they will never, ever forget it," The Doctor had lost most of his cheerful demeanour. He spoke carefully and with defiance. He hoped that his confidence would be enough to act as a deterrent. But still the Silence approached him. Without taking his eyes off the advancing aliens, the Doctor took his phone out of his pocket, blindly dialled and when the phone was answered simply said "Ready?"

In Area 51, Canton confirmed he was ready. He attached Amy's phone to a satellite phone, the receiver of which the Doctor had concealed within Apollo 11.

On the small TV, the picture cut from the moon landing to a loop of the recording of the Silence "You should kill us all on sight. You should kill us all on sight. You should kill us all on sight."

The Doctor took a confident step forward and squared up to the Silence stood in front of him, his jovial manner fully restored "That's one small step for a man and one whacking great kick up the backside for the Silence. You just raised an army against yourself and now, for a thousand generations, you're going to be ordering them to destroy you every day. How fast can you run? Because today's the day the human race throw you off their planet. They won't even know they're doing it. I think, quite possibly, the word you're looking for right now is," he paused, suddenly aware that this wasn't turning out the way he had intended. "Oops. Run!" no one moved. "Guys I mean us, run!"

The Silence raised their hands, electric energy building. Rory struggled with the bonds holding Amy. He couldn't open the last one.

"Just go." Amy snapped at him.

"We're not leaving without you." Rory replied.

Amy tried to push him away with her free hand "Look, will you just get your stupid face out of here."

"Everyone to the TARDIS." River shouted. Oswin and River had started to open fire. Oswin shoved the Doctor towards the TARDIS and threw her sonic screwdriver to Rory.

"Point and think." She told him. He sonicked the last restraint and pulled Amy off the table. River and Oswin kept firing, clearing their path back to the TARDIS. The Doctor kept his screwdriver pointing ahead of him. He span around in between Oswin and River.

"what are you doing?" Oswin shouted.

"Helping." the Doctor shouted back at her.

"You've got a screwdriver. How is that helping?" River snapped.

"River Song, that was rude. Just don't let them reach full power." The Doctor huffed.

"That's why we're shooting, Honey." Oswin said.

River shoved the Doctor towards the TARDIS "Shut up and drive." she said. Oswin pushed River towards the TARDIS behind the Doctor. "River, we want to get where we're meant to go. You drive. I'll be there in a second."

With her attention momentarily distracted, Oswin's gun was knocked from her hand and skittered across the floor, out of reach.

"Fine then, if you wanna play it that way," Oswin drew the sword from the sheath on her back. "Let's do it that way."

She swung the sword down, taking out the Silence closest to her. She ducked to avoid a fork of electricity. As she stood, she swung the sword up. She spun, ducked and swung, the sword reaching it's target every time. And not one of them was left without feeling the cold metal of the blade. She moved forwards toward the gun, swinging the sword with expert precession. She dived forward and snatched the gun off the floor. Still led on the floor, she rolled onto her back, the sword in one hand, held across her chest, the gun in the other. But the Silence were lying across the floor with various injuries. She stood calmly and walked towards the TARDIS. As she reached it, the Doctor stuck his head out of the door. "Um, that was certainly impressive." his gazed flicked briefly behind her. Without turning, Oswin extended her gun arm behind her and fired. The Silence that had stood up, fell again. "I was taught by the best." She said casually and pushed passed him into the TARDIS.

They moved quickly, heading back for the safety of Washington, away from the aliens.

"So what's going to happen now?" Oswin asked the Doctor.

"Well, people will now kill the Silence whenever they see them. They ordered their own death sentence." The Doctor said cheerfully.

"Posthypnotic suggestion has its uses then?"

Rory was staring at Amy in disbelief.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked.

"You called me stupid. You called my face stupid."

Amy frowned at him. He held out the nanorecorder "I wasn't sure whether you were on about me."

"As opposed to who?" Amy asked.

Rory looked at the console where the Doctor was trying to wrestle control of the TARDIS from River.

"Him?" Amy laughed. Rory shrugged. She hugged him.

They gave Nixon a brief explanation, playing down how bad the situation had been so they didn't scare him too much. He was understandably grateful. They left as soon as they could.


	23. Mission Complete

When they had gone to Washington Oswin had remained in the TARDIS. She had taken the eye drive out of her pocket and left it on the console. She'll ask the Doctor to look at it when he got back. She sat on the swing chair underneath the console, eyes closed listening to the low hum of the TARDIS. For the first time since she left Stormcage she felt oddly at peace. She felt like she was meant to be here. There was something familiar and comforting about being around Amy, Rory and River. It felt like being at home. The odd anger she had felt towards the Doctor had vanished and she felt safe with him. She took the sword off her back. She had found a small piece of paper tucked into a small pocket on the belt. She unfolded it again. Whoever had given her this sword had clearly cared a lot for her. All she could remember was a common London accent and a feeling of friendship. And being taught to use it. She had been right when she told the Doctor she had been taught by the best.

She jumped when the Doctor entered, talking happily with River. He spotted her. "Get us moving." He whispered to River. River went up to the console and the Doctor walked over to Oswin.

"Are you ok?" he asked her.

"I'm fine." She smiled. The Doctor was so used to Aderyn saying she was fine when she wasn't, he was relieved to know that Oswin was telling the truth.

"You said you had a ring to remember someone. Can I see it?"

Oswin took a chain from around her neck and handed it to the Doctor. It was a white gold ring with brilliant blue sapphires set into it. The Doctor smiled. He recognised the ring. He had seen it before. River had one that was near identical.

"Hey Oz, is this your eye drive?" River called. Oswin had completely forgotten about the eye drive. She jumped from the seat and pulled the Doctor behind her as she ran to the console.

"No it's not mine. I found it at Greystark. It was in one of the dormitories," She took the eye drive from River and showed it to the Doctor. "I have no idea who's it is." the Doctor took it from her and directed his sonic screwdriver at it. He then took Oswin's eye drive from his pocket and compared the readings from the two.

"This one," he held up Oswin's "Blocks certain memories. But this one," he held up the other one "Helps retain memories. Where did you get yours from?"

Oswin shrugged "I have no idea. I can't remember not having it."

"How do you feel now you've not been wearing it?" Amy asked curiously.

Oswin shrugged again "Calm."

The vortex manipulator in Oswin's bag beeped hectically. Oswin collected it, pointed her sonic screwdriver at it, then smiled widely "Mission complete. Time for me to go." she said.


	24. Can We Really Trust You Oswin?

Oswin scooped up the last of her stuff, cramming it haphazardly into her bag.

"What are you going to do with the diaries now?" Amy asked her.

"When I get back to my time I'm going to return them to their rightful owners," She smiled "I can't risk leaving them with you now. There's too many spoilers."

"We won't read them." Amy said.

Oswin raised an eyebrow "I wish I could believe that. Temptation, it's human nature."

"Don't put the eye drive back on," the Doctor said "It really is the reason you can't remember."

Oswin laughed "I highly doubt that."

"But you were flirting with River, and I bet you anything that it felt like second nature to you. And not once has anyone made reference to The Girl Who Waited or The Last Centurion and yet you have correctly identified them as Amy and Rory."

"Yeah I still think you're wrong." Oswin threw her bag over her shoulder and left the TARIDS.

The Doctor followed her, frowning at the rocky terrain. Rory, Amy and River weren't far behind. They looked as confused as the Doctor.

"Why are we here?" Rory asked.

"Because it's the furthest point away from myself. It's not a good idea to jump out of my own time line if I'm too close to myself." Oswin said.

"You said you are the reason the Stormcage was built. Why?" Rory shouted over the wind.

"Anger," Oswin stopped walking and turned to face them. "Anger makes demons of us all. But demons run when a good man goes to war."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Amy asked as they got close to her.

"Spoilers." Oswin replied.

"I've seen you before haven't I?" The Doctor asked.

Oswin smiled "I told you I was meant to get to this time sooner. But there was something I had to do before hand. So yes Doctor, you have seen me before. I made sure you knew what you had to do. But remember what I told you. You'll need that again one day. And soon I think."

"Can we really trust you Oswin?" The Doctor asked.

Oswin laughed "If you like. But where's the fun in that." The vortex manipulator let out a series of high pitched beeps. She took an apple out of her pocket and threw it to River, who caught it. Oswin pressed the manipulator and vanished. River looked down at the apple. There was a face carved into the skin of it.

"If Oswin is Aderyn, then where is Aderyn?" Amy asked.

"I never thought about that. Let's find out," the Doctor ran back to the TARDIS. He stopped at the door, turning back to them "Come on. I want to make sure she's ok. If you don't hurry up I will leave you here."

Rory, River and Amy ran back to the TARDIS.


	25. Published

Aderyn woke slowly. She was so warm and comfortable. There was an arm thrown over her waist and another one underneath her head. She smiled. River had spent the night with her. This was the first time she'd woken up before River had left and she revelled in the feeling of River asleep next to her.  
_

The TARDIS lurched and shuddered, eventually coming to a complete stop. The Doctor threw open the door and looked at the Earth below them. River ran to the door and looked over his shoulder.

"Why aren't we there?"

The Doctor ran back over to the console and tinkered with the scanner "I have no idea." he said.

"Wait, what day and time are you going to?" River said, closing the door and joining the Doctor at the console.

"A two days after we saw her last." The Doctor said, pacing around the console.

River flicked through her diary "Without giving too much away when did you last see her?"

"Our wedding." Amy said.

River closed her diary with a small thump and smiled "Try going for about a week after that."

"Why?" Amy asked.

"It's safer." River said, the smile still playing at the corners of her mouth.

The Doctor sighed and changed their heading "You're there aren't you? That's why the TARDIS isn't letting us get close." River just smiled at him.

"So, you could actually run into yourself?" Rory asked.

"Anyone could. That's the wonders of time travel. We would have been away for more than a few days so technically we're going backwards in her time. Her time line is continuing as normal. So she would have already bumped into me. But me from a different point in my time stream. It's all very complicated."

"Bumped into?" The Doctor scoffed "Is that what the kids are calling it these days?" River rolled her eyes.  
_

Aderyn paced restlessly. She was too excited to know what to do. Her first book was finally published. She couldn't quite believe it. She hadn't believed in until she got a parcel that morning containing a few copies of the book. She threw herself into a chair and picked up the book again. She couldn't believe it. She really couldn't. She was trying to decide what to do with herself when she heard it. It started as a distant rushing sound that grew in volume. She smiled. He really needed to stop leaving the breaks on. She ran to where the sound was coming from. The TARDIS had already fully materialized by the time she reached it. She threw open the door and, still stood in the doorway, she raised her arms in triumph and shouted "I've been published."

The Doctor smiled as River and Amy rushed to congratulate her. Aderyn was fine. She had finally got one of the things she wanted in life. And what was a thousand times better then that, she was alive and well. He silently vowed he would never tell her about Oswin. She didn't need to know. Oswin had worried the Doctor, but he wouldn't let that happen. Aderyn would never become Oswin.

They celebrated Aderyn's success in an uncharacteristically domestic manner. River made tea and Amy chatted happily to Aderyn. Amy matched Aderyn's excitement, constantly congratulating her and saying she knew she could do it. Sat at the kitchen table, the Doctor smiled. Last time he had sat here it had just been three of them, just Amy, Aderyn and himself. And Aderyn had then told them she had been trying to get published. After the hectic few days it felt like years ago. He pretended to be reading the blurb on the back of the book, but he was peering over the top of it. Everything felt right. Aderyn was happy and smiling. Amy and River laughed and joked. Even Rory seemed to get over his uncertainty about Aderyn and was raising his mug of tea in a toast.

The Doctor turned his attention to the book. It was titled 'Rose'. His hearts skipped a beat. It wasn't a particularly thick book. He usually avoided science fiction. It was always horribly inaccurate and that always bothered him. He blinked quickly at the blurb, hoping he had read it right. But he had.

 _'What was meant to be a normal day at work proved anything but that for Rose Tyler. She soon realises that the world as she knows it could end and the only salvation is a mysterious man called the Doctor and his strange blue box.'_ The blurb also declared it to be the first exciting adventure in the series entitled _Doctor Who_.

When he looked up again Aderyn was staring at him with uncertainty. The Doctor broke into a broad, genuine grin. Before they left a copy of the book found it's way into his pocket.

In the TARDIS library the Doctor took Aderyn's book out of his pocket. He put it neatly on a shelf next to a small clay paper weight. He gently ran his hands over the painted surface. It had been a Christmas present from Aderyn years ago. She'd made it in an art class. A brilliantly intricate model of a rose, painted red. He looked across the rest of the shelf. He hadn't thought about it before, but everything on this shelf had something to do with Aderyn. A pebble from a beach he'd taken her to, a picture she had drawn when she was a child (though he still didn't know how he'd come to have that one), small things that she'd insisted on giving him for Christmas. He would need to get the TARDIS to extend the shelf. He needed space for her books.


End file.
